And Then You Came Along
by RozaBelikova-x
Summary: Dimitri Belikov is a young father of three. His wife recently died in a car crash. Now he's left alone to take care of their kids. He's unable to do this with a full-time job so he wants to hire a babysitter. Enter Rose Hathaway, a college student who needs a job. When she gets hired, will sparks fly? Dimitri feels an undeniable attraction to Rose, but does she feel the same way?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there, I'm back with a new story! I won't stall and just let you read the first chapter. Hope you'll like it :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy. **

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

**DPOV**

"Inna, could you tell your sister to come down?" I asked as I helped Liam into his coat. "We really need to leave."

She nodded and ran back upstairs. I glanced down at my watch again and cursed silently. We were going to be late if we didn't leave right now. Luckily, Inna came back downstairs seconds later, with Alisa in tow.

"You got everything you need for school?" I asked them. They both nodded and I sighed in relief. "Great. Let's go then."

I picked Liam up and carried him outside to the car. After securing his seatbelt, I hurried over to the driver's side and got in. I dropped Inna and Alisa off at their school and waited until they were inside the school building before driving to Liam's school.

When we got there, Liam started to squirm in his seat. "Daddy, I don't want to go," he whined, gripping his teddy bear.

I sighed and got out of the car, opening the passenger's door. "I know, but you're going to have to, buddy," I said, ruffling his hair.

He was still pouting, but then nodded reluctantly and let go of his teddy bear as he climbed out of the car. I walked with him to the playground. As soon as we were there, he started clinging to my leg.

"Can't you take me back home?" he whispered, looking back up at me.

I sighed again and knelt down in front of him. "I wish I could, Liam."

He looked down. "I miss Mommy."

My heart sank. "I know," I whispered, pulling him into a hug. I felt so bad for him. I wish I could cheer him up somehow, but the only thing that would be able to cheer him up was his mother and she was gone. "I know, Liam."

He pulled out of the hug and looked at me. "You're not going to leave me, too?"

I gave him a small, sad smile. "Of course not." Clearing my throat, I said, "I'll pick you up at one o'clock, okay?"

Liam frowned. "But, Daddy, I was going to go and play with Toby after school. I was going to go to his house. Don't you remember?"

"Oh right!" I said. I'd completely forgotten about that. "Right. Then I'll pick you up before dinner, okay?"

"But I was going to have dinner there," he said. "Toby's mom is going to make pancakes. Last week you said it was okay if I'd stayed for dinner."

Now that he'd mentioned it, I remembered saying that. "Okay," I agreed. "I'll pick you up after dinner, then."

"Okay. Bye Daddy," Liam said before turning around and running towards his friends.

I watched him for a few moments before turning around and walking back to my car. Glancing at my watch again, I noticed I was going to be late for work. Again. This was probably the third time I'd arrived late at work this week. I was lucky they hadn't fired me yet.

Hurriedly, I got inside my car and sped off to work. Just like always, it was hectic, but I managed. After work, I went to pick up Inna and Alisa and drove them to their dance classes. I wish I could stay and watch, but I still had to do some grocery shopping.

I was just leaving the supermarket when my phone started ringing. I pulled it out of my pocket and put it against my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Dimitri."

"Oh, Christian," I said, recognizing his voice. "What's up?"

"Just checking if you didn't forget my friend's coming over to your place in less than half an hour," he said casually.

I came to a stop. "What?"

Christian sighed. "Of course you forgot. Why am I not surprised?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused, as I started walking again.

"My friend! She's coming over to your place for the interview in-"

Suddenly, I remembered. "Shit!" I cursed loudly.

"You remember now?"

I clenched my jaw. "Yes." I glanced down at my watch for about the hundredth time today. I still had about an hour before I had to pick up the girls from their dance classes. "I'm coming home now. Make sure she's there in time."

Christian laughed. "_You_ better be in time."

"I'm on my way," I grumbled before disconnecting.

I quickly loaded everything into the trunk and drove home. Hopefully, this girl was serious about the job and wasn't going to be another waste of my time.

**RPOV**

I checked myself one last time in the mirror before turning around to my best friend, who was sitting on my bed.

"Are you sure I look okay?" I asked. "You think this is okay for an interview?"

I was wearing a white blouse and a black pencil skirt. I know it was a little formal – maybe a little too formal for the nature of this interview – but I wanted to look at my best. I really wanted this job and, to be honest, I really needed the money.

Christian rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, you look amazing, Rose. Seriously, stop worrying. You're not going to a job interview."

"But I am," I said frowning.

He let out another sigh. "It's not a _real_ job, Rose. It's just some babysitting."

"Whatever," I said shrugging. "I need to look good if I want this job."

"As long as you don't look like some blond bimbo, you'll be fine," Christian assured me. "Dimitri didn't like those."

I turned to the mirror again. "Should I let my hair loose or pull it into a ponytail?"

He groaned. "God, Rose. What does it matter?"

"Just answer the question, Christian," I said.

"Let it loose," he suggested. "Otherwise it looks even more formal."

"Okay."

Now that I was finished getting ready, I sat down beside him on the bed, hoping time would pass by quickly so I could get this interview over with.

"Tell me more about him," I said, "and his kids."

Christian blew out a breath. "I already told you about them."

"Yeah, but I want to know more," I pressed. "I want to be prepared for the interview."

"Fine," he sighed. "You already know he has three kids, right?"

"Yes. Inna, Alisa and Liam," I said quickly.

"Inna is the oldest. She's ten. Alisa is eight and Liam is nearly five years old."

I nodded, but then frowned. "Wait, how old did you say he was again?"

"I didn't. Dimitri's twenty-eight years old," Christian responded.

My eyes widened. "Wow. So, he was eighteen when he became a dad? That's so young!"

"Yeah, well, it was his own fault," Christian mumbled, shrugging. "He knocked up my aunt."

An awkward silence fell as soon as he mentioned his aunt and he quickly looked away. A few weeks ago, his aunt Tasha had passed away. She'd died in a car crash and now Dimitri had to take care of their kids on his own. Christian had told me Dimitri was looking for a babysitter because he couldn't run a household by himself since he had a full-time job. And now that Tasha had died, he really needed that job.

I put my hand on Christian's arm and squeezed it gently. He didn't really like to talk about his aunt so I decided not to press for further information.

Clearing his throat, he said, "Well, anyway, Dimitri is a computer technician at some company and right now he's in desperate need for a babysitter so you make sure you get the job, okay?" He forced a smile. "I want someone trustworthy to watch over my cousins."

I grinned. "Then why don't _you_ do it?"

"No way," he said, shaking his head. "Don't get me wrong, I love them, but they drive me crazy after an hour. They can be pretty loud, especially Liam."

I laughed.

"But since…you know, my aunt…" he continued quietly. "They're kind of not themselves, you know? They're quieter."

"It must be really hard for them," I said, nodding. "For you, too," I added, giving him a sympathetic smile.

He smiled at me sadly. "I guess it'll get better in time."

"So, tell me more about Dimitri," I suggested, trying to distract him from his aunt. "What's he like?"

He frowned. "I don't know him all that well, actually. He doesn't talk much."

"Oh, you don't get along?" I asked, a little worried.

"Sure we do. He's a nice enough guy, but he's kind of quiet. He likes to keep to himself."

"Oh. What about the kids, then?" I asked. "Does he give them the silent treatment, too?"

Christian laughed; it was a genuine laugh, which I was glad for. "Oh no. He adores his kids."

I smiled. "Well, that's good to know."

He nodded and sighed. "I guess I should call Dimitri. He's probably forgotten you're coming over."

"Okay."

I waited patiently as Christian called Dimitri. It turned out that he actually had forgotten that he was meeting me. Good thing Christian had called to check. Otherwise I would've been standing at his door for God knows how long.

"He's on his way home," Christian said as he put his phone into his jeans pocket. "You'd better go before you're late."

I snorted. "It seems like_ he_ is going to be late."

"Well, if you're early it's going to score you some points already," Christian retorted as he pulled me up from the bed.

I grinned. "Hmm. That's true."

Suddenly, the door to my room opened and my roommate stepped inside.

"Ugh, you again," she groaned as she looked at Christian.

Christian smirked. "It's nice to see you too, Avery."

She rolled her eyes and strode over to her side of the room. "Don't you have your own room? Why are you always here?"

"I don't know. There's something really fascinating about a girls' room," Christian retorted slowly, a wicked glint in his eyes. "You never know what you can find in here."

She gave him a disgusted look and turned away from him, muttering, "Creep."

I chuckled. "Cut it out, Chris."

He just shrugged and opened the door, walking out of my room.

"I'll be back in a bit," I muttered to Avery.

"Whatever," she said shrugging.

I sighed and closed the door behind me. Avery and I didn't get along all that well and it seemed like it was going from bad to worse. I wish I could switch to another dorm room, but that was not possible. All rooms were occupied and I'd already asked around if someone wanted to trade, but as soon as they heard they would have to share a room with Avery, they declined. It seemed like Avery had made herself popular in our dorm building – note the sarcasm.

Christian was waiting down the hall, and together, we walked out of the dorm. He stopped outside the building and turned to me, smiling.

"Good luck, Rose."

"Thank you," I said, smiling back. "I'll catch up with you later."

He nodded and walked off to his dorm building. I walked across campus, taking out the piece of paper with Dimitri's address on it. It wasn't far from here so I decided to walk instead of taking the bus.

When I arrived at his house, after a ten minute walk, I noticed a car in the driveway. Good. That meant he was home.

I looked at my watch and saw that I was right on time. Suddenly feeling a little nervous, I walked towards the front door. As I passed his car, I looked into the window to see if I still looked okay. I smoothed down my hair and put some lip gloss on and then continued my walk to the front door.

Taking a deep breath, I rang the bell and waited. When the door finally opened, I couldn't help the small gasp that escaped my lips. There was a tall and very handsome man standing right in front of me. Tucking a strand of his shoulder-length brown hair behind his ear, he looked at me and smiled. _Damn, Christian could've told me how hot he was!_

"Hi. Are you Christian's friend?" Dimitri asked. _God damn… His accent!_

He started frowning and I realized I was staring at him. Quickly, I blinked, snapping out of my daze, and closed my mouth. Clearing my throat, I said nervously, "Uh, yeah, I'm Rose."

"My name's Dimitri," he said, "but Christian probably already told you that?"

I nodded.

"Well, come on in then," he said, offering me another smile.

I smiled back and he stepped aside so I could enter, closing the door behind me.

* * *

**So what do you think? You liked it? Hated it? **

**I made Rose and Christian best friends again. I seriously love those two as friends! They make a great team :P **

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Hope you have a nice day/evening! :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for the amazing response to the first chapter! I'm glad you like it so far :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy. **

* * *

**CHAPTER 2**

**RPOV**

"I'm sorry about the mess," Dimitri said as he scurried around, clearing the toys and books away. "I just got home. I didn't have the time to-"

"It's fine," I interrupted gently. "Having a full-time job and taking care of three kids on your own must be hard. Don't worry about it."

He smiled at me gratefully. "You want something to drink?"

"No, thank you," I said politely.

He put the last of the toys into a box and put it in a corner.

"Want to sit down?" he asked, motioning towards the couch.

I nodded and sat down on the couch, trying not to gape at Dimitri. He was really good looking. And those dark jeans fit him really well. _Focus, Rose!_ I chastised myself. _You're here to get a job. _

"So, umm," Dimitri said, clearing his throat, as he sat down across from me. "I assume Christian has already told you about my situation?"

I nodded. I didn't know if I should tell him I was sorry for his loss. I was pretty sure he'd heard that a lot the past couple of weeks and if I were in his place, I would've gotten tired of hearing it.

I remembered when my father had died a couple of years ago, everyone had looked at me with so much pity, asking me every five minutes if I was okay… It had annoyed me a lot. Maybe he felt the same way, maybe he didn't want to be pitied – he certainly didn't look like he was waiting for it – so I decided not to say anything about it unless he started talking about his wife.

"You're in college, right?" Dimitri asked. "I believe Christian mentioned it..."

I nodded. "Yes. It's where I met Christian, actually."

"You're studying the same thing?" he questioned.

"Oh no. I'm studying Elementary Education," I said. "I'd like to become a kindergarten teacher."

"Really?" he said, looking impressed.

"Yes. I love kids. It's why I'm applying for this job and, well, it's more useful than working at some grocery store," I said. "This way, I'll have more experience with kids for when I become a teacher."

Dimitri nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"And I already did some babysitting," I added, confident. "I'm not a total newbie at this."

He smiled and was about to say something, but got interrupted when his phone started ringing. He frowned and pulled it out of his pocket, glancing at the screen.

"I'm sorry, but I have to take this," he said, looking at me apologetically.

"Sure. No problem," I said smiling.

"I'll be right back."

He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. I sighed and glanced around the room. The living room was cozy, with two couches and a fireplace. There was also a flat screen TV on the wall across from where I was sitting.

I got up and strode toward the other wall to look at family photos hanging there. My eyes landed on the family photo of Dimitri with his wife and kids. Tasha was really beautiful. She had straight black hair and piercing blue eyes that reminded me of Christian's eyes. A girl stood next to her with the exact same hair and eye color. That must be Inna, the oldest one. The two youngest, Alisa and Liam, looked a lot like Dimitri: brown hair, brown eyes and a kind smile.

There were a lot of pictures of the kids, but aside from the family photo, there were none of Tasha and Dimitri. There wasn't even a wedding picture, which I thought was strange. Could it be that Dimitri had removed the pictures of his wife because it was too painful for him to see the pictures after her death?

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat. Startled, I turned around and saw Dimitri standing in the door opening. I flushed and averted my eyes quickly as I made my way back to the couch.

"You have a beautiful family," I said as I glanced back up at him hesitantly.

He smiled. "Thank you, Rose." He sat back down, too. "Sorry about that," he said as he put his phone back into his jeans pocket. "I couldn't ignore this call."

"It's okay," I said, smiling reassuringly.

"Well," Dimitri said, clearing his throat, "do you think you'll be able to combine your studies and babysitting my kids? It won't be every day, but still, if it's too much then-"

"Sure," I said quickly, hoping he would offer me the job. It certainly seemed like this was going good. "I don't have that much classes this semester and I could study here, right?" I asked hesitantly.

He smiled. "Of course. As long as you check on them once in a while then you can choose whatever you do here. They don't need to be watched at all times, but if you just check on them a few times. I don't want them to be alone at home, just in case something happens, you know. They're too young to be left alone here."

"I understand and it's no problem," I said. "I'll make sure nothing happens to them while I'm here."

"Great. Well then, I guess you're hired," Dimitri concluded.

I stared at him in disbelief and then jumped up, excited. "Oh my God, really? You're hiring me?"

He looked surprised by my outburst, but then smiled and nodded.

"Oh my God! Thank you!" I squealed. I threw my arms around him and hugged him. He stiffened and I gasped when I realized what I was doing. Quickly, I let go of him and stepped back. "Oh God, I'm so sorry!" I said, blushing furiously. _Way to go, Rose. This is really professional._ "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I'm just so excited I got this job," I rambled. "I really didn't mean to do that. I'm so sorry."

To my surprise, he laughed. "Rose, it's fine. Stop apologizing."

"So I'm not fired?" I asked hesitantly.

He smiled and shook his head. "No, you're not fired."

I sighed in relief. "Okay. Cool. Cause that would really suck, you know, since I just got hired two minutes ago," I mumbled, grinning sheepishly.

"It's okay," he said, still smiling. "Don't worry about it."

"Well, I'll make sure it won't happen again," I muttered, still a little embarrassed.

After making a fool of myself, Dimitri set up some rules for me. No boys were allowed to come over here, no alcohol, no smoking inside the house, no parties, etc… Like he seriously thought I was going to throw parties here and bring guys over to make out with! I wasn't a saint, but even I thought this was not done when you're babysitting on someone's kids. I was actually serious about this job and I didn't want to screw it up so I made sure he knew I wouldn't do any of those things.

"Thank you very much for this opportunity, Mr. Belikov," I said as he walked me to the door half an hour later.

We shook hands and as soon as he touched me, I felt a current of electricity run through my body. I let out a small gasp as I let go of his hand, looking up at him to see if he'd felt it too. If he had, he didn't show it.

"You're welcome. And it's Dimitri," he added with a smile.

I smiled back hesitantly. "Well, thanks. I'll drop by tomorrow to give you my schedule."

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow then."

I gave him a small wave and then walked off with a huge grin plastered across my face, ecstatic that I'd gotten the job.

**DPOV**

When I went to pick up Inna and Alisa, I was still contemplating if I should tell them right away I'd found a babysitter for them or if I should wait until tomorrow, when Rose would drop by with her schedule so we could work something out.

"Hey girls," I said as I collected them from the dance studio. "How was it?"

"It was great!" Alisa said grinning. "There was this new girl, too, and she's really nice."

I smiled. "Good. And you, Inna? You had fun?"

"Yes, it was okay," she said quietly.

I frowned. She used to get so excited whenever she talked about dancing and after every dance class, she had this big smile on her face, but even dancing didn't seem to get her mind off of what happened to her mother. I think, out of everyone, she was having the hardest time with her mother's death. They'd been pretty close, after all.

I wish there was something I could do to cheer her up, to make her feel better, but I knew there wasn't anything I could do right now to make it all better. The only thing I could do was be there for her when she needed me.

"So, I found you guys a babysitter," I said, changing the subject.

Inna groaned. "Dad, I'm ten! I don't need a babysitter."

"Yes, you do," I said sternly as I looked over at her. "I'm not leaving you alone at the house with Alisa and Liam while I'm at work. What if something happens and I'm not there?"

"If you'd let me have a cell phone, I could call you if something happened," she responded.

"You're too young to have a cell phone," I said, "and there's a house phone, which you can use if you need to call me."

"But almost everyone I know has a cell phone," she argued.

"You're not getting a cell phone, Inna," I said sternly. "We've already discussed this. You're way too young."

Inna didn't look happy about it, but at least she didn't argue anymore, which I was grateful for. I hated fighting with her.

Alisa leaned forward in her seat, looking thrilled. "What's our babysitter's name?" she asked.

"Rose," I said smiling, grateful for the change of subject.

Inna huffed, but Alisa looked excited. "That's a pretty name. Is she nice?"

"Yes, she's really nice," I answered. "You'll like her."

Of all the girls that had applied to the job, Rose was by far the best. I wondered why Christian hadn't told me about her sooner. I'd wasted several weeks interviewing girls who weren't even serious about the job and now I'd finally found a suitable babysitter, one I deemed trustworthy. And to top it off, she seemed really nice. I think she'd get along great with the girls and I was pretty sure Liam would like her too.

"When will we see her?" Alisa asked.

"She's coming over tomorrow. You can meet her then if you want," I said.

She grinned. I smiled at her, glad she was so excited about having a babysitter. When we got home, I started dinner whilst Inna and Alisa did their homework.

"So, now that you're going to have a babysitter, there'll have to be some changes," I said during dinner. Inna and Alisa both looked at me tentatively, waiting for me to continue. "Would it be okay if you'd go to school with the bus from now on?"

Inna frowned. "Why? Can't you drive us?"

"No, I can't," I said sadly.

"But you've done it for the past couple of weeks," she pointed out. "Why can't you drive us anymore?"

"I know, milaya," I said, knowing this would be an issue. It would be a huge adjustment for them to take the bus every day to school. "But I can't drive you anymore. I'm always late at work and I don't think my boss will tolerate this much longer. Can you understand that?"

Alisa nodded and continued to eat, but Inna crossed her arms and mumbled, "Mom used to drive us to school every day."

I sighed. "I know. I'm sorry I can't drive you to school anymore."

"What about Liam?" she asked sharply, not looking at me. "Are you going to let him take the bus, too?"

"No, of course not. He's too young for that," I said. "Rose will walk him to school on the days she doesn't have classes in the morning. And the days she can't, I'll take him to school."

Inna gasped. "You'll take him to school, but not us?!"

"His school's on my way to work," I said. "And like I said, I'll only drive him on the days Rose can't bring him."

"Seems like you got it all planned out with the babysitter," she muttered, pushing her plate away. "I'm not hungry anymore. I'm going to bed."

"Inna," I called after her. "Wait-"

The door slammed shut, followed by her running up the stairs and then her bedroom door slamming shut. I sighed and buried my face in my hands. Inna was being so difficult lately. I knew she was having a hard time right now and all these adjustments weren't making it any better, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't run a household all by myself and I certainly couldn't afford to lose my job so I had to make some changes to be able to keep my job and take care of my family.

"Dad?" Alisa asked softly.

I looked up at her. "Yes, milaya?"

"Don't be sad," she said as she got out of her seat and crawled onto my lap. "We'll go with the bus. I don't mind."

I smiled, wrapping my arms around her, and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, sweetheart."

* * *

**So, Rose is hired and it seems like she likes Dimitri so far, especially his good looks :P You'll find out what Dimitri thinks of her next chapter :) **

**What do you think of the kids so far? Do you think it's strange that there aren't any wedding photos of Dimitri and Tasha? **

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter. Have a nice day/evening! ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you very much for the reviews, follows and favorites! :) **

**Lots of you think Dimitri and Tasha's marriage wasn't all that well and another big part of you thinks they weren't married at all. I like all your theories about them, but you will have to wait a little longer to find out the truth ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**

**RPOV**

"I got the job!" I squealed, wrapping my arms around Christian's neck from behind. His head shot up, surprised, and he half turned to look at me.

"Seriously?" he said as a grin spread across his face.

I nodded and smiled, plopping down next to him on the bench. "Yep."

"I told you it would be okay," he said, nudging his shoulder against mine.

"You forgot to tell me something, though," I said, still smiling.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" he asked.

"How freaking hot Dimitri is!" I exclaimed, slapping his arm playfully.

Christian gave me a weird look. "You think he's hot?"

"Uh yeah," I said, giving him an incredulous look. "I mean, have you seen him? Jeez."

"I have seen him, yes," Christian said, rolling his eyes, "but I'm not into guys so…"

I grinned. "No. You're into _her_," I said, nodding at the blond girl who stood a few feet away, chatting with her friends. He blushed and glanced away. "Is that why you're sitting here all on your own? Are you spying on your crush?"

"I'm not spying," he mumbled. "And she's not my crush."

I raised my eyebrows. "You've liked her since the moment you saw her walking into the cafeteria."

Christian was about to say something, but then a few people passed us by so he waited until they were gone, in case they could hear us. He always got paranoid whenever we were talking about his crush. He didn't want anyone to hear us talking about her.

"That's not true," he muttered. "I – I don't like her. I just think she's pretty."

I shook my head, chuckling. "You can deny it all you want, but I know you like her."

Christian glanced at the girl again and sighed.

"You know, she's not going to notice you if you keep sitting here like this," I said. "Go talk to her."

"No way," he protested. "I can't do that. Not when she's with her friends."

"Fine," I said shrugging. "You could try to find out her name, though. Do you know someone who's in one of her classes?"

"Adrian is," Christian said scowling, "but I don't want to ask him."

"Okay. Then I'll ask her name for you," I suggested.

"No, he'll know you're asking it for me."

I sighed, exasperated. "Chris, you got to do _something_!"

He glanced at his crush again and sighed. "Fine," he grumbled.

"Cool," I said grinning. "I'll ask him when I see him."

After a while, we decided to grab some dinner. We walked to the parking lot and as we drove towards the pizzeria, Christian started asking me questions about the interview. I answered them all happily, glad I'd finally found a job I actually liked.

The next day, I ran into Adrian when I was on my way to Dimitri with my schedule. He slung his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his side.

"Long time no see," he said grinning. "How are you, pumpkin?"

"Pumpkin? Seriously?" I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to get into a girl's pants."

"But I already got into your pants so I don't need to impress you anymore," he said smirking.

I elbowed him in the stomach. "Yeah, please don't remind me of that horrible mistake," I muttered.

Adrian was actually my ex-boyfriend. We'd started dating when we'd met at college last year and we'd broken up a couple of months later. We were still friends, though. But in moments like this, I wondered why.

"Back then, you didn't think it was a horrible mistake," he said winking.

"Let's just stop talking about it, okay?" I grumbled.

Adrian shrugged and lit a cigarette. "Fine. Where are you going?"

"Well, actually I got this new job as a babysitter," I answered. "I'm going over now with my schedule so we can work something out."

He made a face. "Why would you want to babysit? It sounds boring."

I groaned. "God, Adrian. Don't you know me at all?"

"Sure I do," he said grinning. "I know you inside and outside."

I glared at him. "Remind me why we're friends again," I muttered.

"Because you love me and can't live without me," he said dramatically.

I snorted. "Yeah right. Anyway," I said, changing the subject, "I need to ask you something. There's this girl in one of your classes. Tall, blond hair, green eyes. She's got lots of friends always hanging around her… Sounds familiar?"

"You mean Lissa Dragomir?" he asked, taking a long drag from his cigarette.

I shrugged. "I guess."

"Why are you asking? Are you playing for the other team now, Hathaway?" he said, winking and nudging my shoulder.

I rolled my eyes. "No. I was just wondering…"

"You were just wondering," he said slowly. Then he grinned. "Are you asking this for Ozera?"

"I'm not-" He raised his eyebrow at me and I sighed in defeat. "Yeah, it's for Christian. But he didn't want you to know it's for him so please don't mention it."

"Don't worry, cupcake. I won't tell a single soul," he vowed.

"Ugh," I said, giving him a little push, "stop giving me nicknames."

"Why?" he asked, throwing his cigarette butt on the ground. I scowled, but he didn't notice. I'd told him so many times before he should throw his cigarettes in the trash, but he never listened.

"They're lame and I'm not your girlfriend anymore," I said. He looked at me with fake hurt and I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, I've got to go. Talk to you later."

"Okay. Good luck with the babysitting!" he called.

"Thanks!" I grinned at him and then turned around, making my way to Dimitri's house again.

**DPOV**

I was just helping Alisa with her homework when the bell rang. Alisa looked up, a grin spreading across her face.

"Is that Rose?" she asked excitedly.

"I think so," I said smiling as I got up and made my way to the door. "We'll finish your homework later."

I got to the door, but before I could open it, Liam ran up to me and started clinging to my leg. "Is that our babysitter?" he asked.

I'd told him about Rose last night and, thankfully, he'd taken the news well, just like Alisa. Only Inna needed some convincing. Hopefully, she would come to terms with it soon.

"Yes, it's her," I said. "You curious to see her?"

He nodded shyly and I picked him up in my arms before opening the door with my free hand.

"Hello, Rose," I greeted as I stepped aside so she could come in.

"Hey Dimitri," she said cheerfully. Then her eyes landed on Liam. "And you must be Liam, right?" she said, smiling at him.

Liam glanced up at me and I nodded, encouraging him to say something. When he just kept looking at me, I whispered, "Say something to her, Liam."

Hesitantly, he looked at Rose and said shyly, "Hi."

Rose's smile widened. "It's nice to meet you, Liam."

He turned away from her and buried his face in my neck.

I gave Rose an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, he's a little shy."

"That's okay," she said, waving it away.

"Alisa is in the living room," I said. "She's very excited about having a babysitter."

"Oh really?" Rose said. "I'm glad to hear that."

I led her to the living room, where Alisa was sitting on the couch. As soon as Rose entered, Alisa jumped up and started talking to Rose excitedly. I smiled as I watched them interact for a while.

Suddenly, Liam whispered in my ear, "She's pretty."

He was staring at Rose in awe, his mouth hanging open slightly.

I chuckled. "Yes, she is," I agreed.

To be completely honest, she was really beautiful. Her beauty had struck me the moment I'd opened my door and invited her in for the interview. She looked a little exotic, with her tanned skin and dark features.

"Dimitri?"

I blinked. "Huh? What?"

Rose laughed and held out a piece of paper for me. "I said, I brought you my schedule."

"Oh. Right," I said, quickly averting my eyes from her. I hadn't realized I had been staring at her. How embarrassing. Luckily, it didn't seem like she'd noticed. "Liam, Alisa, would you mind going to your rooms for a bit while I have a word with Rose?"

I put Liam down and Alisa grabbed his hand, tugging him towards the door.

"And please keep an eye on him for me, Alisa?"

She nodded, smiling.

"Thank you, milaya."

When they'd left, Rose said, "You have very sweet kids. Is your eldest around? I'd love to meet her, too."

I smiled. "Thank you. Inna is not here; she's at a friend's house. She'll be back soon, though, so if you want you can meet her then."

I prayed that Inna had accepted the fact that she was going to have a babysitter and that she wouldn't start throwing a tantrum as soon as she saw Rose.

"Okay, that's fine," she said smiling. She held out the piece of paper to me again. "So, um, my schedule."

"Right," I said. "Let's sit down and I'll see if I can work around your schedule."

We'd just come to an arrangement when the bell rang again.

"That's probably Inna," I said as I got up. "I'll be right back."

When I opened the front door, I was surprised to see Inna wasn't the only one standing there. Christian stood next to her, his hand resting on her shoulder.

"Look who I found, wandering all on her own in town," he said.

I frowned. "What's going on? I thought you were with Lizzie, Inna?"

"I was," she said, shrugging Christian's hand off of her shoulder.

She pushed past me and walked inside.

"Hey, where are you going?" I said when she started to make a bee line for the stairs. "Why were you in town? You said you were going to Lizzie's house."

"I already told you I was at Lizzie's!"

"Then how come Christian found you walking on your own in town?!"

"Lizzie needed to leave with her parents. They were going to some place," she said shrugging.

"Why didn't you call me? I could've come to pick you up," I said frowning.

She shrugged again. "I can come home on my own. I'm not some little kid anymore."

"You can't just walk by yourself in town! What if something had happened to you?!" I couldn't believe Lizzie's parents had just let her leave on her own. They could've at least called me so I could've come to pick her up. "Why didn't you ask Lizzie's parents if you could call me?"

"They asked me if I wanted to call you, but I said it was fine," she responded.

"Inna, don't you know how irresponsible that was? You're only ten, not-"

"If I'm old enough to take the bus on my own, I'm old enough to walk home alone!" she interrupted.

She crossed her arms and looked at me defiantly. In that moment, she reminded me a lot of Tasha. She was practically a younger version of her mother. The same looks and the same attitude.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down before I'd say something I was going to regret. "Let's talk about this later, okay? Rose is here. Please go say hi to her."

"I don't want to-"

"Go say hi to Rose," I repeated. I turned to Christian. "Would you like to come in?"

"Uh, sure," he said, a little hesitant. "I wouldn't mind seeing my other cousins again. Are they here?"

I nodded. "They're upstairs." He smiled and made his way to the stairs, but I stopped him. He gave me a questioning look. "Thanks for driving Inna home. I owe you one."

"It's not a problem," he said, waving it away.

Just then, Rose walked into the hallway. "Hey, is everything alright here?" Then she noticed Christian. "Oh, Chris," she said, clearly surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

Christian smirked. "Came to see my cousins. What are_ you_ doing here?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know why I'm here."

He chuckled and then went upstairs.

I turned to Rose again. "So, this is Inna, my eldest," I said.

Rose smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Inna."

"Yeah, you too," Inna muttered. Then she turned to me. "Can I go now?"

I sighed. "Fine. But this conversation is not over, okay?"

"Whatever."

She ran upstairs and I heard her door slam shut.

"I'm sorry about that," I said. "Normally, she isn't like that, but ever since her mother died…" I looked away and cleared my throat. "She's a lot more stubborn than she used to be."

"It's okay," Rose said softly. "Losing someone you love is never easy. But it'll get better eventually. Just give it some time."

I looked back up at her, a little surprised, when she placed her hand on my arm in a comforting gesture. Just like yesterday, when I'd shaken her hand, I felt a current run through me, like a bolt of electricity. Her eyes widened slightly and she quickly pulled her hand away. I wondered if she'd felt it, too.

I opened my mouth to say something, not wanting things to become awkward, but just then, Christian came walking downstairs with Liam and Alisa in tow. Liam was on his back, laughing, and Alisa was clinging to his arm. They adored their older cousin and I knew Christian adored them too. It was obvious in the way they interacted with each other.

"Here we are," Christian said as he put Liam back on his feet. He looked up at us and grinned. "So, is everything settled?" he asked, slinging his arm around Rose's shoulder and pulling her to his side.

Rose's eyes flicked to me and I smiled.

"Of course," I said.

"Well, good luck, Dimitri," Christian said smirking. "She can be quite the handful. I hope you know what you're getting into." That comment earned him an elbow in the ribs from Rose. "Just kidding, Rosie," he said winking.

"You're _so_ funny, Christian," she said sarcastically as she pulled away from him.

"Would you like to see my room?" Alisa asked excitedly as she stepped forward and grabbed Rose's hand.

"Sure," Rose said smiling.

As they went upstairs, I walked back to the living room and Christian followed me inside, leaning against the wall.

"So… Is Rose your girlfriend?" I asked nonchalantly whilst clearing the table so Alisa could continue with her homework.

"No," Christian said immediately, making a face.

"Why are you looking like that? She can't be that bad if she's your friend," I joked.

"That's the point. She's my _friend,_" Christian said, "and nothing more." I arched an eyebrow. "She's not my type," he said shrugging.

So beautiful and kind wasn't his type? Okay…

"Why are you asking?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought…"

"No, no," he said quickly. "We're just friends."

Rose and Alisa came back downstairs a little while later. After talking everything through with Rose one last time, she left with Christian. I closed the door, relieved I'd found a suitable babysitter at last.

* * *

**So, you liked the chapter? It's obvious Dimitri is attracted to Rose, huh? :P **

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think of the chapter ;)**

**Have a nice day/evening! :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you very much for the reviews! :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

**RPOV**

"Just talk to her already!" I said, nudging Christian's shoulder. "I didn't ask her name for nothing, right?"

We were sitting in the cafeteria, having lunch. Lissa had walked in ten minutes ago with her clique of friends and Christian had been staring at her since then – at least, until Lissa had looked his way for a brief moment.

"No," he said adamantly. "I'm still mentally preparing myself."

I rolled my eyes. "You've been mentally preparing yourself for two weeks now!"

"It's not that easy," he mumbled, looking down at his lap. "And she probably has a boyfriend."

"You mean that blond dude sitting next to her?" I asked, looking at the table where Lissa was sitting. There was a guy sitting next to her, looking at her with adoration clear on his face. Lissa didn't seem to notice, though. "I don't think so. It looks more like he's got a crush on her. So if you want to be her boyfriend, you gotta swoop in now before it's too late."

Christian grumbled something I couldn't understand and got up. "It doesn't matter. I'm probably not her type anyway." I opened my mouth to say something, but he cut me off. "I've got to go to class. I'll see you later."

I sighed and watched him leave. After a few minutes, I got up too and left the cafeteria. It was almost time to pick up Liam from school anyway.

I'd been babysitting Dimitri's kids for the past two weeks now, and so far everything was going well between his kids and me. Especially with Liam and Alisa. It was a little harder with Inna, though. Mostly, she just spent her time in her room and only talked to me when she had to. I just let her be, figuring she needed more time.

"Hey Liam!" I greeted as he came running towards me. I picked him up and twirled him around, which made him laugh. "How are you today?" I asked as I put him back on his feet.

"I'm great!" he said grinning, sliding his hand into mine as we started walking back home. "It was David's birthday and the teacher let us eat cake for his birthday!"

"Was it good?" I asked.

He nodded. "David gave me another piece to take home so I can eat it later."

I smiled. "That's great. You gonna share it with me?"

"Alright, if you want some," he said reluctantly. "Not all of it, though," he added quickly.

I laughed. "I was just joking, Liam. You can have it." He smiled wickedly. "But first lunch," I said. "Afterwards, you can eat the cake."

"Okay," he agreed.

After lunch, we watched a movie together and then he went off to play with his toys. Just then, Alisa and Inna came home from school. The bus stop was less than half a mile away so it was not necessary for me to come and pick them up there.

Like always, Inna just went upstairs before I could say hi to her. Alisa gave me a sad smile and then walked to the kitchen. I followed her and sat down at the kitchen table.

"So, how was school?"

"It was okay," she said shrugging, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl. She plopped down next to me and took a bite of the apple.

"Is everything okay?" I asked. Normally, she was more talkative, but today she seemed a little down. "Did something happen?"

"I'm fine," she said between bites. Then she frowned. "I just got a lot of homework to do."

I nudged her gently. "You want some help?"

She looked up at me and smiled. "That'd be great, thanks."

A few hours later, the homework was done. Alisa was starting to get hungry again, but I didn't think it was a good idea to make her a snack because Dimitri would be home soon and then she couldn't eat her dinner.

"It's too late to eat a snack now," I said to Alisa as she moaned about how hungry she was. "Your father will be home any minute now anyway."

Just on cue, Dimitri walked in. Alisa jumped up from the couch and ran toward him, hugging him.

"I'm hungry, Dad!" she said. Then she looked up at him with an excited glint in her eyes. "Can we go to the Pizza Hut?"

He smiled. "Sure, Alisa."

Liam, who'd been playing with his toys, exclaimed, "I wanna go to the Pizza Hut, too!"

Dimitri chuckled. "We'll go in bit, okay?"

I got up from the couch and took my bag, slinging it over my shoulder. "I would've made them something, but it was already kind of late and I figured if they'd eat a snack now they wouldn't be able to eat their dinner anymore."

"That's okay, Rose," Dimitri said, giving me a small smile.

I smiled back. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"No, don't go!" Alisa protested, taking my hand. I gave her a questioning look. "Can't she go with us?" she asked, looking up at her father again.

"Oh, um, that's okay, Alisa," I said quickly. "I don't want to disturb-"

"Can Rose come?" Liam asked excitedly, taking my other hand. "Please, Daddy?"

Dimitri shrugged. "I'm okay with that. That is, if Rose wants to go," he added, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, sure," I said, hesitating only for a moment.

Dimitri smiled. "Great. Where's Inna?"

"She's upstairs," I answered.

"Can you go get Inna for me?" Dimitri asked Alisa.

She nodded and practically ran out of the room.

"So, did they behave?" Dimitri asked.

"Yeah, they were all good. Isn't that right, Liam?" I said, ruffling his hair.

He grinned, nodding. "We were very good, Dad."

"That's great, son," he said, lifting him. "Why don't we go get you ready so we can go to the Pizza Hut, huh?"

"I can get him ready for you," I said quickly.

Dimitri glanced at me, uncertain. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I don't mind," I said, offering him a smile.

"Thanks," he said as he put Liam back down. "I'll go check on Alisa and Inna, then."

Fifteen minutes later, we were all piled into Dimitri's car and on our way to the Pizza Hut. It was crowded, but after waiting for a few moments we managed to get hold of a table.

"Well, well, look who's here," I heard a voice saying behind me.

I turned in my seat and saw Adrian looking down at me, a huge grin spreading across his face. I groaned inwardly. Off all the people, it had to be him who'd come here to embarrass me.

"Didn't expect to see you here tonight, cupcake," he said, squeezing my shoulder.

I groaned and Alisa giggled. "I thought I'd said you should stop giving me nicknames," I said with clenched teeth. I glanced at Dimitri to see him looking at Adrian with a small frown on his face.

"You know I like to tease you," he said winking.

"Well, not now, please," I grumbled.

"Oh really? You used to love it when I teased you," he said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Adrian!" I hissed, feeling my cheeks heat in embarrassment. I looked at him pointedly, silently telling him to go away.

Adrian glanced around the table and I could see he wanted to make another comment, but he refrained himself and said, "Fine, fine. I'll see you tomorrow…sweetheart."

When he saw the look on my face, he laughed quietly and then walked back to his friends, who were sitting a few feet away from us.

Clearing my throat, I said, "I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay," Dimitri said, giving me a small smile.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Alisa said, giggling.

"He was," I admitted, "but not anymore."

"Why not?"

It was probably too complicated to explain this kind of thing to an eight-year-old, so instead of trying I just said, "Because boys are mean. Stay away from them as long as you can."

"Not all boys are mean!" Liam said frowning.

"That's true. You're not mean," I said, smiling at him.

He smiled back, seeming satisfied with my answer.

"Well, I'm going to check out the buffet," I announced. I was pretty hungry by now and I couldn't wait to get my hands on the pizza. "Who's coming with me?"

Liam and Alisa immediately followed my lead. I took a slice of everything and then returned to our table, digging in. By the time Dimitri and Inna were back, I'd already eaten three slices. I went back for seconds and when Alisa said she couldn't finish her pizza anymore, I ate her slice too. I wasn't really hungry anymore, but it would be a waste to throw it away.

"What?" I asked after swallowing my last bite. They were all staring at me weirdly. "Do I have something on my face?"

Liam and Alisa both giggled.

"No," Dimitri said quickly. He cleared his throat and continued, "I've just…well, I've never seen a girl eat like that. You sure have an appetite." I frowned, wondering if that was a bad thing, but then he smiled and said, "I like that."

I just smiled back before averting my eyes quickly, a little shy all of a sudden. Maybe I had eaten a little bit too much. But I'd been so hungry and pizza was my favorite food. Well, I guess Dimitri would think twice next time before asking me to come to the Pizza Hut.

"So, how much do I owe you?" I asked Dimitri as we left.

"Nothing," he said.

I stopped walking. "No, I can't let you-"

He smiled and interrupted gently, "Yes , you can. It's my treat."

"But-"

"Seriously, Rose, it's fine," he said, still smiling.

"Thanks," I said, smiling tentatively.

"You're welcome."

"Ugh!"

I stopped walking when I noticed Adrian making out with a girl against the wall, outside the Pizza Hut. Of course, he'd abandoned his friends again to find some girl, in the hopes of getting laid tonight. Typical Adrian.

Dimitri glanced up and noticed them, too. Luckily, the kids had run ahead of us and already gotten to the car so they didn't have to witness Adrian sticking his tongue into some random girl's throat.

Apparently, Adrian had heard my disapproval, because he looked up and when he noticed me, he grinned.

"Didn't know you were still here," he said, turning away from the girl.

"Yeah, we're leaving now," I said. "And here's some piece of advice: you might want to continue that-" I nodded at the girl, who was glaring at me now "-somewhere private. Not everyone wants to see you ravaging some girl in the parking lot."

"Jealous?" Adrian said smirking.

I snorted and started walking again. "Bye Adrian."

Dimitri followed me and asked, "You alright?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah sure. I just feel sorry for those girls he's using. They always think they'll be able to hold onto him, but Adrian never stays with one girl for too long. She'll be lucky if he's still in bed with her tomorrow morning," I said, looking back at them. They were making out again.

"Was he like that with you too?" he asked hesitantly.

I laughed softly. "No, actually he wasn't. I guess I was the exception, but it didn't work out," I said shrugging.

"Oh. Well, maybe it's better this way," Dimitri muttered, looking over his shoulder at Adrian again. "I think you deserve better than that."

I looked at him, surprised.

"I mean – well, actually it's not any of my business," he stammered. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay," I said quickly and I offered him a smile. "I appreciate it. Thanks."

Dimitri smiled back tentatively. "We'd better get back to the car," he said, clearing his throat and looking away.

"What took you so long?" Liam said in a whiny voice when we finally reached the car.

"Hey, don't whine. I'm not as fast as you are," I said, tickling his sides which caused him to giggle. Quickly, he freed himself from my hold and climbed into the car.

Dimitri dropped me off outside my dorm building. I climbed out of the car, but before closing the door, I said, "Thank you for dinner and for driving me home, Dimitri."

He smiled at me kindly. "You're welcome, Rose. Good night."

"Good night," I said. Then I looked at his children in the backseat. "See you tomorrow, kids!"

"Bye!" Alisa and Liam said in unison.

Inna just looked out of the window, with her arms crossed. I suppressed a sigh and closed the door before stepping back and watching them drive away. When the car had disappeared into the night, I turned around and went inside.

* * *

**So, everything seems to be going well between Rose and the kids. Except for Inna, she's a little stubborn. Do you think that'll change? For the people who are curious about Dimitri's and Tasha's story, you will have to wait a little longer. Sorry :P **

**I'll update as soon as possible. It's probably going to be sometime during the weekend. Have a nice day/evening! :) **


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for all the reviews! :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 5**

**RPOV**

When professor Meissner dismissed the class, I packed up my stuff and followed my fellow classmates outside. Glancing at my watch, I saw that I had still some time to bring my books back to my dorm room before I had to pick up Liam from school.

"Rose!"

I groaned inwardly when I heard him calling for me. Instead of stopping, though, I kept on walking. I pushed through the crowd of students, but I wasn't fast enough. Adrian caught up with me and put his hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

"Hey, what's the rush?" he said, grinning at me.

"I'm in no rush," I said, shrugging his hand off of my shoulder. "I'm just not in the mood to talk to you."

He frowned. "Why not?"

"You totally embarrassed me last night," I hissed.

"Last night?" He looked confused, but then realization hit him. "You mean at the pizza hut?"

"Yes! Seriously, were you saying all those things on purpose?" I asked angrily. "There were kids with us, you know! They did not have to see you flirting. I'm lucky I didn't get fired." I knew I was probably overreacting right now, but I still thought Adrian could've been a little less like his usual self. "Who knows what Dimitri thinks about me now."

"Oh, come on, I wasn't flirting at all," Adrian said and another grin spread across his face. "You know, I didn't realize you had to babysit the daddy too," he teased, winking.

I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't babysitting. We were just having dinner."

"Oh, you becoming part of the family now?" he said, raising his eyebrows. "I wonder what the mommy thinks of that."

I frowned. "That's not funny. The mother's dead. She's Christian's aunt, by the way."

Adrian's grin disappeared immediately. "Oh."

"Yeah," I said, glaring at him. "So don't make any jokes about it. Especially not when Christian's around."

He nodded, completely serious now.

"I have to go and pick up Liam from school," I muttered. "I'll see you later."

"Okay, Rose," he said.

I gave him the tiniest smile, glad he wasn't joking around anymore – and that he was using my actual name this time instead of some stupid pet name.

"Bye Adrian," I said.

Sighing, I started walking again and when I rounded the corner, I bumped into something – or rather, someone. Startled, I took a step back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the girl I'd collided with said as she bent and started picking up her books.

"No, it was my fault. I wasn't looking," I said apologetically as I helped her with her books.

She looked up, giving me a small smile, and I realized she was Lissa, the girl Christian had a crush on. Oh man, if he were here right now…

"Thanks," Lissa said. Hesitantly, she added, "You're Rose, right?"

I blinked, surprised. How did she know my name? "Uh, yes. How do you know…"

"A friend of yours, Adrian, mentioned you a couple of times," she said. "He pointed you out in the cafeteria one time so that's how I know who you are…"

"Oh," I said.

We stood up and looked around awkwardly. Before I could figure out what else to say, she said, looking a little shy, "You're friends with that black-haired boy, right? I don't know his name, but… I see you two a lot together."

I smirked. So she had noticed him. Good. "You mean Christian? Yes, he's a good friend of mine," I said, nodding.

"Just…friends?" she asked hesitantly.

"Definitely just friends," I confirmed quickly.

She smiled. "Oh." She glanced down at her watch and her eyes widened. "Oh! I have to go," she said before hurrying away. "Bye!"

"Yeah, me too," I muttered to myself as I looked down at my own watch.

It was too late now to return to my dorm. I'd have to go straight to Liam's school if I wanted to be there in time. I half ran half walked the last hundred feet towards the gate of his school. He was already waiting on the playground, a teacher by his side. As soon as he saw me at the gate, he ran toward me, a big grin on his face.

"Rose!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

"Hey buddy!" I said, taking his small school bag and slinging it over my shoulder.

We made some small talk on our way home. When we got there, he immediately settled himself on the couch to watch cartoons.

Now that he was quietly sitting in front of the TV, I decided now would be a good time to study so I took my books out of my bag and sat down at the table.

When Alisa and Inna came home from school, Liam jumped up and suggested we'd play hide and seek. Alisa agreed immediately, but Inna was harder to convince. She still didn't like me very much and I knew she'd rather just go to her room, but in the end her brother and sister won her over.

I covered my eyes and counted until fifty while they scurried away to hide. I searched the basement and ground floor first, but when I didn't find them there, I went upstairs.

I'd only ever been in Alisa's and Liam's room. When I'd checked their rooms and found nothing, I went back to the hallway and looked at the other two doors. I knew one of those doors led to Dimitri's bedroom. I just didn't know which one. I had to check them both, though, in case they were hiding in there.

I opened the door closest to me and stepped inside. I noticed immediately this was Dimitri's room. There was a four poster bed, but other than that the room was plain. There was a closet, a nightstand and an adjoining bathroom, but there were no pictures or anything personal, except for one of Dimitri's terrible western novels on the nightstand.

I'd always found it strange there had been no pictures of him and his wife in the house. I'd figured he must keep them in his room, but there was no picture of Tasha, no picture of them as a couple, just pictures of the kids. I wondered why. Was his wife's death so painful for him he couldn't bear to even look at a picture of her?

"What are you doing here?"

Startled, I turned around to find Inna standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and a cold look on her face.

"I, um, I thought you might be hiding in here," I said.

"This is my parents' room," she said scowling. "You're not supposed to come in here!"

"I'm sorry," I said, biting my lip. I didn't mean to upset her. "I didn't know."

"Whatever," she said shrugging. "I don't want to play this game anymore."

She turned around and stalked out of the room.

"Inna, wait," I called after her.

She kept on walking and went into her room, slamming the door shut. I winced involuntarily and let out a sigh, leaning against the wall. Damn. I'd screwed up.

"What happened?"

Alisa suddenly stood beside, a concerned look on her face.

"I think I've made your sister a little bit mad," I admitted, looking at her.

She gave me a sympathetic smile. "She'll come around."

I nodded and sighed again. "So… You want to help me find Liam?"

Alisa nodded and we went in search for him. After checking every room in the house and we still hadn't found him, I was starting to panic. Where the hell could he have gone?

"He might be in the attic!" Alisa suggested.

I nodded and followed her to the attic, praying Liam would be there. Dimitri was going to go mad if I'd lost him so he'd better be in the attic.

"Liam, are you here?" I said, flicking the lights on. The attic was full of boxes, covered in dust. It was obvious no one ever came up here. "Liam?"

Alisa tugged at my arm and pointed at a big closet in the corner. The door was ajar. Quietly, I walked to the closet. Before I could open it, Liam jumped out and threw himself onto me. I let out a scream, my heart hammering in my chest, and Liam and Alisa both started laughing.

"God, Liam, you scared the hell out of me!" I said, taking a deep breath to try and calm my racing heart.

"Gotcha!" he said giggling. I started tickling him and he squealed in my arms. "No, don't!" he said, laughing, as he tried to escape.

"Now it's not funny anymore, huh?" I said grinning.

"Nooo!" he said, laughing like crazy. "S-stop! I need to pee."

I immediately stopped and said, "Don't pee in your pants, please."

He grinned. "I was just joking."

And then he ran off.

I groaned and quickly went after him. I had a feeling this was going to be a very long afternoon.

**DPOV**

"So, how's it going with the babysitter? Do the kids get along with her?"

I opened the door and walked out of the gym. Ivan followed me out and walked beside me, giving me a questioning look.

"It's going great so far. Inna is a little stubborn, though," I said frowning. "But I'm sure she'll come around."

"What's she like?" Ivan inquired. "Is she hot?" I shot him a look and he grinned. "What? I'm just wondering."

I sighed and slowly put my bag into the trunk of my car, taking my time to answer. "She's, uh, okay," I said, trying to sound casual.

Ivan raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

I shrugged and averted my eyes. "Yeah, I mean… She's nice and, well, she takes good care of my kids when I'm not there…"

I opened the door and climbed into the car, waiting for Ivan to get in.

"You didn't answer my last question," he said after he'd closed the car door.

"What question?"

"Is she hot?"

_Very_. Not that I was going to tell him that.

"She's beautiful, yes," I answered reluctantly as I started the car and backed out of the parking lot.

"How old is she?"

"Twenty," I responded.

"Oh," he said smiling. "Do you think she likes older guys?"

I glared at him. "Don't even think about it, Ivan," I warned.

"What?" he said, giving me an innocent look.

"You're not going to ask out my kids' babysitter," I said.

He frowned. "Why not?"

"Because she's too young for you."

"If she's okay with dating older-"

"I said no," I cut him off.

He gave me a surprised look. "Whoa, calm down, Dimitri."

"Sorry," I muttered. "It's just… You know how you are with women, Ivan. You get tired of them after a couple of days. I don't want to be in the middle of it when it doesn't work out. And I certainly don't want to have to find a new babysitter because of that."

"Alright. I get it," Ivan said, holding his hands up in surrender. He sighed. "She's off limits. But can I at least meet her?"

I arched an eyebrow. "You think I'm stupid? If you come over, you won't be able to stop yourself from flirting with her."

He let out another sigh. "Fine then."

We didn't speak after that, but when I dropped him off at his apartment, he said, a sly grin creeping onto his face, "You know, I wonder if that's the only reason you don't want me to see her. Maybe you just want to keep her to yourself."

I stared at him for a moment, unable to say something, and his grin grew even wider. I started to say something, but he cut me off, "I'll see you next week."

When I got home fifteen minutes later, I found Inna sitting in front of the TV. She looked up and smiled as I walked into the living room.

"Hey," I said smiling. I looked around, noticing she was the only one here. "Where is everyone?"

Her smile disappeared. "Rose is putting Liam to bed and Alisa is taking a shower."

"Oh okay," I said, putting my duffel bag down on the floor. I glanced at the clock. I'd come home a little later than usual. I hoped Rose didn't mind. "So-"

"Dad, I need to tell you something," Inna interrupted.

I looked at her, suddenly worried. "Is there something wrong, milaya?"

"Rose went into your bedroom today," she said. "I saw her."

I frowned. "Why would she do that?"

"I don't know. I think she was-"

Someone cleared their throat. I looked up and saw Rose standing in the doorway. She looked just as beautiful as every other day. Even in plain jeans and a T-shirt, like she was wearing now, she managed to look absolutely fantastic. Her hair was down and, as I stared at it, I wondered how it would feel like to run my fingers through it.

"Hi," she said quietly, snapping me out of my reverie.

"Hey," I said, quickly averting my eyes from her.

Inna hurriedly walked out of the room, not looking at Rose as she passed by.

"I wasn't snooping around in your room," Rose said quickly. "We were playing hide and seek and, well, I thought they might be in there – I didn't even know it was your room until I opened the door," she rambled. "Inna walked in just then and probably thought I was snooping around, but I wasn't. Honestly, I wasn't-"

"It's fine, Rose," I said, interrupting her gently. "It's just a misunderstanding. Don't worry about it."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Oh. Okay."

"I'm sorry for being late," I said, giving her an apologetic smile. "I guess I lost track of time."

"Oh, that's fine," she said shrugging. "I know you go to the gym every Thursday so I don't mind staying later than usual."

She started walking towards me and my eyes widened as I tried to figure out what to do. Should I take a step back? Should I just stay where I was? That's when I realized she wasn't actually walking towards _me_ but the couch. I relaxed and looked at her as she put her jacket on.

I glanced out of the window. It was already getting dark. I didn't like the fact that she had to walk back on her own to campus. I'd rather drive her there so I knew she'd get home safely, but I couldn't leave my kids alone.

It seemed like she knew what I was thinking, because she suddenly said, "It's okay. I don't mind walking back to campus."

"But it's already dark outside," I said frowning.

She shrugged. "I'm a big girl," she said winking. I gulped and she smiled. "Good night, Dimitri."

"Good night," I said, following her to the front door. "And be careful."

Her smile widened. "Of course."

I watched her leave and then closed the door, sighing. I walked upstairs and checked on Liam. He was already sound asleep. Careful not to wake him, I kissed his forehead and quietly stepped out of his room.

As I walked down the hallway, I noticed that the lights were on in Inna's room so I knocked on the door and waited for her to open it. When she didn't, I knocked again and walked in. She was sitting on her bed, listening to music. When she saw me, she pulled out her earbuds and got up.

"Did you fire her?" she asked.

"No, of course not," I said.

She scowled. "But she was in your room!"

"She was looking for you guys," I said, leaning against the wall. "Because you were playing hide and seek. That's why she was in there."

Inna looked away guiltily.

I sighed. "Do you really hate her that much that you want me to fire her because of something so silly?"

"I don't hate her," she said, still not looking at me.

"Well, you sure don't seem to like her either."

She didn't say anything.

"Rose isn't that bad, you know," I said, taking a step towards her. "Can't you give her a chance and try to be nice to her? For me?"

"I guess," she mumbled at last.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her. I kissed the top of her head and murmured, "Thank you, milaya."

* * *

**I realize things are going slow between Rose and Dimitri, but I feel like I can't rush into things. They haven't known each other for that long and they need to become closer before something can happen between them. But don't worry, it will happen. Just be patient :P Hope you understand :) **

**Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it! Have a nice day/evening! ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for your reviews! :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 6**

**RPOV**

Weeks flew by and soon I'd gotten into a routine of classes and then going over to Dimitri's house to babysit his kids. I loved my job. Dimitri's kids were amazing and so sweet. Inna had come around eventually and she was starting to open up.

I was glad about that, because for a moment I'd feared for my job when she'd told Dimitri I'd been in his room. But the day afterwards she'd apologized and since then everything had been going very well.

Until now.

Well, everything was still going great with the kids, but not with me. Once again, I had problems with my laptop and I had no idea how to fix it. My laptop was going so damn slow and I had a paper due to tomorrow. I really needed to finish it tonight, but how things were going now, I had my doubts if I could finish it in time.

"Goddammit!" I cursed. Luckily, the kids weren't around to hear me cussing.

"Something the matter, Rose?"

I almost jumped ten feet in the air when I heard his voice. "Fuck, Dimitri! You scared the crap out of me."

He chuckled. "If I'd known you'd be swearing so much, I would have thought twice about hiring you," he teased.

"Yeah, well, it's too late now," I said grinning.

He arched an eyebrow. "I could still fire you."

"You wouldn't," I said, crossing my arms. "I'm the best babysitter ever and you know it so you won't fire me."

"I don't know about that. Where are my kids?" he said, trying to look stern, but he was smiling.

It was Thursday night and that meant Dimitri went to gym with his friend, Ivan, and would be home later than usual. He'd gone out for drinks after, too, with Ivan so he was even later home tonight. I'd already put the kids to bed, like he'd asked me this morning.

"Sound asleep in their beds," I answered with a smile.

"Good," he said as he dropped his bag onto the floor. "Now, why were you cursing? Is there something wrong?"

"It's my laptop," I said scowling. "It's going too damn slow. I don't know why. I really need to finish this paper, but if it keeps going on like this…"

"Want me to take a look?" Dimitri offered.

I suddenly realized that he was a computer expert. Why hadn't I thought about that before? He could probably fix my problem easily.

"Yeah sure," I said. "If you don't mind."

He came to stand behind me and leaned over the laptop. My heart started beating slightly faster when I realized how close he was standing beside me. His face was next to mine as he looked at the screen and I could smell his aftershave, which, might I add, smelled delicious.

I didn't know what it was about him, but since day one I'd been attracted to him. There was no denying in that. I mean, he was totally hot, so how could you not be attracted to him? But it wasn't just the good looks that made me like him. I'd gotten to know him better over the past month and he was really kind and sweet and a very generous person. And the way he interacted with his kids, how much he cared about them, it was just so-

"There you go," Dimitri said, abruptly interrupting my thoughts about him. "It's fixed."

I blinked. "What? You fixed it already?!"

"Yeah, there wasn't a real problem, actually. You just had a lot of useless processes running in the background, which made your laptop slower."

"Oh okay," I said frowning. I had no idea what he was talking about. "Thanks, comrade."

He glared at me playfully and I grinned. I'd come up with that nickname a few weeks ago and when I realized he didn't like it, I'd started using it more frequently to tease him.

"You're welcome," he said at last, smiling reluctantly.

He was still standing very close to me and I didn't like how his proximity affected me. He didn't seem to have a problem with it, though.

I immediately scolded myself for thinking he_ might_ have a problem with it. Of course he didn't have a problem with it. He was still grieving over his wife. He obviously wasn't thinking the same things as me. I wish I wasn't either, but damn, it was hard.

I looked down and suddenly noticed he wasn't wearing his wedding ring anymore. Did that mean that he wasn't grieving anymore? But his wife had only died two months ago… He couldn't have moved on already, could he?

I wondered when he'd taken his wedding ring off. Had it happened just recently or had it been longer and I just hadn't noticed all this time?

I shook my head slightly. Why was I even thinking about this? It was none of my business and I really should be concentrating on something else right now instead of him – my paper, for example.

"Thanks," I said again, realizing a little too late I'd already said that. He gave me a funny look, but didn't say anything. I started to get up and he finally stepped away from me and my laptop. "I should go. It's already getting late and I really need to finish this."

"Okay," he said. "You know, next time you could just tell me if you have a lot to do for school and can't come over to babysit. I would've tried to find another solution or I would've come home early so you could work for school properly."

"No, it's fine," I said quickly. "I love spending time with your kids. They're amazing. And my paper is almost finished. It was just my laptop bugging me."

Dimitri gave me a small smile. "Well, if you have any other problems with your laptop in the future, tell me and I'll help you out."

I smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you."

He walked me to the door and opened it for me. He frowned and I immediately knew what was bothering him.

"Seriously, it's okay," I said. "I don't mind walking home in the dark."

"But I do mind," he said. "I know it's just a short walk, but what if something happens? I wouldn't be so worried if you had a car or if someone walked with you. I would drive you, but I can't leave the kids here on their own."

"Well, if you give me a raise, I might be able to buy a car," I said jokingly.

"I just might, then," he responded smiling.

My eyes widened. "No, I was just joking. I don't need a raise." I glanced down at my watch. "I really need to go now, Dimitri. Good night."

"Good night, Roza," he said softly.

I gave him a small smile and turned around to leave. I didn't know why, but sometimes he used my Russian name. At first, I hadn't even known Roza was my name in Russian so I'd asked him about it. He hadn't explained why he called me that sometimes, he'd just told me it was my name in Russian. I didn't mind him calling me Roza. In fact, I liked the sound of it – especially when it came from his lips.

I mentally scolded myself again. I really needed to stop thinking about him in that way. It was really starting to frustrate me. Why, oh why, did I have to be attracted to an older guy who had three kids?! Why wasn't I attracted to someone my age?

I'd just reached my dorm room when my phone started ringing. Quickly, I took it out of my jeans pocket and answered the call.

"Hello?" I said as I opened the door to my room.

Avery was sitting on her bed, flipping through a magazine, and didn't even look up as I entered.

"Rose?"

I frowned. Why was Dimitri calling me? I'd just seen him. Had I forgotten something at his house? I hoped not, because I didn't want to walk all the way back.

"Hey," I said slowly, "what's up?"

"I just wanted to know if you got home safely," he said.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't keep the smile off of my face. "Yes, Dimitri. I'm perfectly fine." He let out a sigh of relief. "Seriously, stop worrying so much. You already got three kids to worry about. I think that's enough."

"I can't help it," he said softly. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

_Goddammit, why is he so sweet?!_

I put my bag down and sat down on my bed. "Why? Because you won't have anyone to watch over your kids if something happens to me?" I teased.

"No, of course that's not the reason. You know I – shit. I got to go. Liam's got a nightmare again," he said.

I frowned. "Oh. I hope he'll be okay. See ya tomorrow."

Dimitri disconnected. Sighing, I put my phone on my nightstand. Poor Liam. Dimitri had told me Liam often had nightmares since Tasha's death. He never wanted to talk about what he was dreaming exactly, but it had to be bad if he woke up crying almost every night. Hopefully, it would get better soon.

"So," Avery said casually, finally acknowledging me, "how's the babysitting going? You got lucky yet?"

I looked at her quizzically. "What are you talking about?"

She arched an eyebrow. "You really seem to get along with the kids' father. I was just wondering if you had gotten hot and heavy with him yet. I mean, he's always calling you so I thought…"

I stared at her, incredulous. "Excuse me?!"

She smirked. "I take that as a no."

"Where the hell is this coming from?" I exclaimed, jumping up from the bed.

Avery wasn't fazed. Ignoring my question, she said, "I wonder, though, what his wife will say when she finds out how close you've become to her husband."

"Not that it is any of your business," I snapped, "but his wife passed away. Dimitri and I are just friends." _Sort of, I guess_, I added silently. "He isn't looking for a relationship and neither am I. I'm only there to babysit his kids. That's all."

She shrugged. "If you say so."

"Why do you even care?" I growled.

"I don't," she said calmly. "But I think Christian will if he knows you and Dimitri are getting close. I mean, he's related to Dimitri's wife, right? I mean, _was_ related to Dimitri's wife." She grinned wickedly.

I clenched my jaw and counted to ten in my head, trying to calm myself down before I did something stupid, like punching her in the face.

"We aren't getting close," I said at last. "And for someone who doesn't like to hang around us, you sure know a lot about my and Christian's life! Are you spying on us?"

"I'm your roommate. I don't need to spy," she said. "I hear everything you and Christian talk about when he comes over and I'm here."

"Well, we won't be discussing anything here anymore," I spat.

We didn't talk the rest of the night and the next morning, I was still in a foul mood because of what Avery had insinuated.

The annoyance must've been clear on my face, because when I finally arrived at Dimitri's house, he looked at me, one of his eyebrows raised, and said, "Good morning. Got up on the wrong side of bed?"

I faked a smile. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He chuckled. "So, did you finish your paper in time?"

"Oh yeah," I said. I'd actually had to get up early to finish it, because I hadn't wanted to finish it last night after my fight with Avery. Clearing my throat, I said "So, is Liam ready for school?"

Dimitri nodded. "He's in the hallway. I should leave now, though. I don't want to be late for work."

I stepped aside so he could get past. "Have a nice day."

He opened his mouth to say something, but then Liam came running down the hall and into my arms.

"Rose!" he exclaimed. "Guess what? Daddy's taking us swimming tomorrow!"

I smiled. "Oh, that seems like fun."

"Yeah! You want to come with us?" he asked eagerly.

I glanced up at Dimitri, who was standing at his car, looking at us. "Umm… I don't think that's such a great idea, Liam," I said carefully. He looked at me, disappointed. "Your dad probably wants to spend some time with you alone."

"Dad wouldn't mind if you'd come with us." He turned to look at Dimitri. "Right, Daddy?"

Dimitri looked up at me and smiled. "Sure. At least, if you want to. You've probably had enough of us already," he said jokingly.

"Please, Rose. Please come with us," Liam begged, tugging at my hand.

I smiled at him. "If you really want me to, I'll come with you."

"Yes!" he cheered.

"I really need to leave now," Dimitri said. There was still a small smile on his face. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at two in the afternoon. Is that okay for you?"

I nodded. "That's fine."

"Great," he said before getting inside his car and backing out of his driveway.

I waved at him and then turned to Liam.

"Let's get you to school," I said, taking his hand.

He was still grinning, excited for tomorrow. I wish I could be just as excited as him, but for some reason I was a little worried. Could Avery be right after all? Was I getting too close to Dimitri? We might be friendly with each other, but he was still my boss. Was I crossing a line?

_Stop worrying_, I chastised myself. _It's just swimming. Besides, he said it was alright if I came._

"Don't forget, Rose," Liam said as I dropped him off at school. "Tomorrow at two in the afternoon."

I smiled at how eager he was. "I'll be there," I promised.

He smiled widely and then ran to his friends, yelling a goodbye over his shoulder. Sighing, I turned around and quickly walked back to campus. I had a class in half an hour and I didn't want to be late.

* * *

**So Dimitri and Rose are getting closer. How do you think their trip to the swimming pool will go? :P **

**Please leave a review and let me know what you think of the chapter! Have a nice day/evening! ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you very much for the reviews! :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 7**

**RPOV**

"Seriously, Christian, if you're not going to man up right now, it's never going to happen," I said as we walked across campus. He really needed to do something about Lissa because his constant whining about her was starting to drive me crazy. "Soon she'll have forgotten all about you if you don't start talking to her."

"I know, I know," he muttered, stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets. "I'll try and talk to her if I see her alone or something."

I sighed. "Please do because this is just ridiculous. She asked me about you so it's clear that she's noticed you and probably likes you."

That was weeks ago, though. I'd told Christian as soon as I saw him after I'd bumped into Lissa and he'd been ecstatic, but he'd still not tried to talk to her.

I glanced down at my watch. "I really need to go now. Dimitri's coming to pick me up in a few."

Christian raised his eyebrow. "Dimitri?"

_Shit, I should not have said that._ "Umm, yeah," I admitted awkwardly. "I'm going swimming with him and the kids. They wanted me to come so yeah…"

"Wow," he said, clearly surprised. "They must like you a lot. Can't see why, though," he teased. I elbowed him and he grinned. "Well, have fun."

"Thanks," I said before walking off and returning to my dorm room.

**DPOV**

I wish I'd thought things through before inviting Rose to come swimming with us. Just one glance at her in her little red bikini told me it had been a mistake.

Quickly, I averted my eyes from her before she caught me looking at her body. She did not need to know I was attracted to her. It would only cause problems and not to mention, things would be awkward if she ever found out.

I sat at the edge of the pool, looking at my children playing around with Rose. I didn't let Liam out of my sight once. He'd only just learned how to swim. But I knew he'd be safe; Rose was with him.

"Dad! Come on in," Alisa said, waving me over.

I'd rather just stay here at the side so I'd be far away from Rose, but my daughter was looking at me pleadingly so I jumped in and swam over to them. Immediately, Liam climbed onto my back and then on my shoulders.

"Stand up, Daddy," he ordered.

"Hey, careful there," I said as I stood up.

I felt Liam letting go of me so I quickly grabbed his legs so he didn't fall off.

"Look how tall I am now!" he exclaimed. "Rose, look!"

Rose glanced up and smiled.

"Now I'm taller than you," he stated, grinning proudly.

Rose poked him in the side. "Yeah, that's easy to say now, huh? You're sitting on your father's shoulders."

I took him off my shoulders and put him back down into the water and he went off to play with his sisters.

"Hey, don't go too far!" I called after them.

Rose swam to the side of the pool, resting her arms on the edge. Against my better judgment, I followed her.

"So, um, thank you for coming with us today," I said after a few moments had passed. "They really seem to have a great time with you here."

She smiled. "It's fine. I'm having a great time, too."

"You do?" I asked, a little surprised. I thought she was just here to do Liam a favor.

"Yeah. You have lovely kids, Dimitri," she said smiling. "I don't mind hanging out with them – even when I don't get paid for it," she teased. Then she turned sober again. "And I don't mind hanging out with you, either."

I didn't know why, but that comment just made my day. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

Averting my eyes from her, I said, "We never used to do things like this, as a family, you know. Tasha…" I sighed. I never really talked about Tasha to anyone, except for Ivan. It was kind of strange telling someone else about her now, but it felt good. I trusted Rose. "Tasha never wanted to. She wasn't keen on family outings. So, usually, she didn't come with us. Seeing how happy my kids are now, because you came along… well, I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Dimitri," she said, giving me a small smile. "And if you ever feel the need to talk about Tasha – or anything else – you can always talk to me…if you want to."

I was about to respond when I felt someone tug at my arm. I looked down and saw Alisa.

"Daddy, I need to pee," she said. Glancing at the bathroom, she mumbled, "But I don't want to go alone."

I looked into the bathroom's direction and noticed a couple of guys standing nearby. She was probably afraid to go past them on her own.

"I'll go with you," Rose offered, noticing the guys too.

Alisa smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

Rose climbed out of the pool and I quickly glanced away from her. I couldn't help myself and watch her as she left with Alisa. My eyes drifted down to her ass and I had to force myself to look away. I noticed that the guys near the bathroom were staring at her, too, as she walked past them. I couldn't really blame them; she looked very beautiful. I didn't like the way they looked at her, though. Like she was a piece of meat. I know I'd been staring at her too, but not like _that_.

I quickly turned away from them, just when Inna and Liam came swimming towards me.

"Can we go to McDonalds tonight?" Liam asked, looking at me with puppy dog eyes.

"Sure." Inna and Liam both lit up with excitement. "But just so you know, that's not going to happen every week," I added quickly.

A few minutes later, Alisa came back.

"Where's Rose?" I asked.

"Those guys are talking to her," she said, pointing at the group of guys from earlier. "She told me to go back to you."

I watched the guys talk to Rose. She had her arms crossed and wasn't looking particularly pleased. In fact, she looked mad.

"I'll be right back," I muttered, getting out of the pool. "You stay here. Inna, please watch Liam."

She nodded and I stalked off to the group of guys forming around Rose. When I got closer, I could hear part of the conversation.

"…tell you what, why don't we go somewhere private and have some fun?" one of the guys said as he inched closer to Rose and put his arm around her shoulders.

She immediately pushed him off of her. "No, thanks," she said dismissively.

I cleared my throat and they all looked up at me. "Is everything okay here?"

"Yeah sure, everything's fine. We were just talking about what we're going to do with this beauty here," another guy said, winking.

"Yeah, well, that's not going to happen. She's with me," I said, glaring at him. I held out my hand to Rose and she smiled at me gratefully before taking it. "Let's go, Roza."

I put my hand on the small of her back and led her away from the guys, glaring at them one last time as we left.

"Thank you," Rose said.

"It's fine," I said. I realized my hand was still resting on her lower back so I quickly let go of her. "They weren't looking really friendly so I thought I'd come over…"

"Yeah, they were pretty persistent," she muttered. "Assholes. I would've punched them in the face if we'd been alone, but I didn't want to cause a scene." I arched an eyebrow. "And, well, it wouldn't have set an example for your kids, would it?" she added, grinning.

I shook my head. "I don't think punching those guys would be a great idea for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said, looking at me indignantly. "You think I can't take them?"

"I don't doubt your courage, but they're with a lot more," I said, a little hesitant. She really could be feisty sometimes and I didn't doubt she would've punched them if I hadn't come over, but then she would've only made things worse for herself. "And they're probably, well, stronger than you are."

"Why? Because they're guys and I'm a girl?"

"Y-yes," I said, backing up slowly.

She gasped.

"You're going to pay for that," she said and before I knew it, she'd pushed me into the water. She jumped in after me and grinned. "Your dad's been unkind to me," she said to my kids, who'd swam over to us. "We should punish him."

They all attacked me at the same time, yelling and screaming. My mouth dropped open and I looked at Rose, who was grinning wickedly. I narrowed my eyes at her and she winked at me.

When I finally freed myself from my kids, I made my way over to Rose. She started swimming away, but wasn't quick enough.

"Oh no, you don't," I said, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her back. "That was unfair, you know."

She looked at me, grinning. "What, you can't fight off three kids? Are you a girl?" she teased.

"You're going to pay for that," I said, using her words, and I started tickling her sides.

Rose giggled and squirmed in my arms. "Stop! Dimitri, stop it."

She managed to free herself her and splashed water in my face, laughing. I splashed her back and then she disappeared under water. Suddenly, I felt a tug at my legs and I toppled backwards into the water. Rose surfaced, laughing even harder now.

"Dammit, Roza," I growled, grabbing her by the waist again.

"You should've seen the look on your face," she giggled. "I'm sorry, but that was too damn funny."

"I'm glad you think it's so funny," I said dryly.

She turned around in my arms and put her hands on my arms. "Oh, don't be so grumpy now," she teased.

"I am not grumpy," I said and I smiled.

"That's better," she said and she smiled too.

I suddenly realized my hands were still on her waist and that we were standing way too close. She seemed to realize this too, because her eyes widened. I quickly let go of her and stepped back, averting my eyes from her.

"Um, I'm going to find the kids," I said, clearing my throat. "We should probably leave soon. They want to go to McDonalds so yeah…"

"Okay, I'll go with you," she said quietly, not looking at me.

Luckily, they weren't too far away. Half an hour later, we were ready to leave for dinner and in those thirty minutes, I hadn't talked to Rose a single time. I didn't even dare look at her anymore after what had happened in the pool. Well, nothing really happened, but still… I think I got carried away a little bit too much.

But it was just so easy, talking to Rose, being around her… She made me feel good, unlike with Tasha. It had definitely never been this easy with Tasha. Nothing had ever been easy with Tasha.

"So, um, would you like to join us for dinner?" I asked as we walked back to the car, stuffing my hands into my jeans pockets.

"Oh, sure," Rose said and she grinned. "I could never say no to some fries and a burger."

I smiled, glad this awkward tension was gone. "Great."

It turned out she could eat a lot more than some fries and a burger. It was more like two burgers and _lots_ of fries. I should've expected this because I'd already seen her appetite at the pizzeria that one time, but it still stunned me.

"Thanks again for coming with us today," I said as I dropped her off at campus.

"It's fine. I had a great time," Rose said smiling. She turned in her seat and looked at the kids. "I'll see you guys next week!"

Rose got out of the car and stepped aside, waving at us, as I drove off. I looked into my rearview mirror and noticed Liam had fallen asleep. Alisa rested her head on Inna's shoulder and yawned.

"You had fun today?" I asked.

They both nodded, too tired to say something. Liam was still fast asleep when we got home so I carried him to him upstairs and lay him down in his bed.

Inna and Alisa stayed up for another while, watching TV, but soon enough they went to bed, too. I followed them upstairs, kissing them goodnight. I checked on Liam one last time before going to my own room.

As I lay awake in bed, I couldn't help but think of Rose. I kept picturing her in that red bikini of hers. She'd just been so beautiful and, well, hot. That definitely, too. But she was a lot more than just beautiful. She was kind, funny, smart –

_Stop thinking about her like that, _I chastised myself_. She's your kids' babysitter, not to mention that she's several years younger than you are! _

Frustrated with myself, I shut my eyes and forced myself to think about something else until I fell asleep at last.

* * *

**That was it for this chapter. I hope you liked the swimming trip. It seemed like Rose and Dimitri certainly enjoyed it ;) **

**Have a nice day/evening! :) **


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for all the amazing reviews! Hope you like this chapter! :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 8**

**RPOV**

"So how was the swimming with Dimitri and the kids?" Christian asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"It was okay," I said evasively, averting my eyes.

I ducked my head, letting my hair cover my face, so he wouldn't notice I was blushing. If I had to be completely honest, hanging out with Dimitri and his kids had been really fun. _Maybe a little bit too much fun_, I thought as I recalled how Dimitri and I had fooled around in the pool.

"Okay?" Christian repeated, arching an eyebrow.

I shrugged and desperately searched for a change of subject. I didn't want to talk about this anymore. Luckily, I quickly found something to distract Christian.

"Look, there's Lissa," I said, nudging him with my shoulder.

He looked up in the direction I indicated at. She was alone at the moment, carrying her tray of food as she scanned the crowd, looking for a place to sit.

"Go talk to her," I hissed in his ear, nudging him again.

Gathering his courage, he nodded and stood up. I could see he was really trying to look confident as he strode over to Lissa. A smile crept onto Lissa's face as she noticed him walk over to her. Christian said something to her and then they started talking. I watched them interact with a proud smile on my face. I knew Christian could do it. He'd just needed a little push from me.

After a few minutes, they came walking back to where I was sitting. I scooted up a little so Lissa could join us.

"Hi again," she said, smiling at me.

"Hey," I said, smiling back. "How are you?"

"I'm good," she said, glancing at Christian from the corner of her eye. "You?"

I grinned. "Oh, I'm great."

Suddenly, my phone buzzed. I picked it up from the table and looked at the screen. It said I had a text from Dimitri. I didn't know why, but my heart skipped a beat and I held my breath as I opened the text. I felt a little disappointed – but don't ask me why because I didn't know myself – when it was just to tell me I'd apparently forgotten one of my textbooks at his place.

"I got to go," I said sighing as I started to get up. "I'll see you guys later."

They both nodded and started talking again as I put on my jacket and walked off. Maybe it was a good thing I had to leave; now they had all the time to get to know each other without getting interrupted by me.

**DPOV**

When the doorbell rang and I went to open the door, I was surprised to see Ivan. I'd expected Rose to come and pick up her textbook.

"Hey," I said, stepping aside so he could enter. "What brings you here?"

"I'm on my way home," he said. "Thought I'd come by and see how it's going here. How are you?"

"I'm good," I said shrugging.

Ivan smiled. "Good. I'm glad." He glanced around the hallway. "So, where are the kids? It's been long since I've seen them."

"They're in the living room," I said.

His smile widened and he walked to the living room. As soon as he entered, he was met with squeals from my children and they all ran towards him, hugging him. I leaned against the doorway, smiling. Ivan was like an uncle to them and they'd missed him a lot. They hadn't seen him since Tasha's funeral so they were all happy to see him again. It was probably my fault too that they hadn't seen him sooner because I'd told Ivan not to come over when Rose was here.

The doorbell rang again. _Shit._ That would be Rose. Damn, I wish I hadn't texted her. Now she'd meet Ivan and God knows what he would say to her to charm his way into her life.

Reluctantly, I turned around and walked back to the hallway to open the front door.

"Hi," Rose said, giving me a small smile.

"Hey, come on in," I said, returning her smile. "Your book's in the living room. I figured you might need it for your class."

"Yeah, I do," she said. "If you hadn't texted me, I wouldn't even have known so thank you."

"It's fine."

Rose followed me to the living room and I glanced at Ivan, who was talking to Inna. As soon as we entered, though, he looked up and his eyes widened as he took in Rose.

"Holy shit," he said as he stared at her. "Y-you're the babysitter?!"

I glared at him warningly.

"Um, yes," Rose said, looking confused. "Who are you?"

Quickly, Ivan glanced at me and then cleared his throat. "I'm Ivan," he said, flashing her a smile as he stepped forward to shake her hand.

"Oh. So you are Dimitri's best friend?" Rose said smiling. I'd told her a little about Ivan and now I regretted that I had. "I'm Rose, by the way."

"It's very nice to meet you, Rose," Ivan said, kissing her knuckles softly.

I clenched my jaw and narrowed my eyes at him. Knowing I needed to do something before he'd really try to charm her, I walked over and practically pushed Ivan away as I said, "Your book is over there, Roza."

I pointed at the table and she smiled at me before picking it up. "Well, thanks. I should be going. Sorry for disturbing you."

"Oh no, it's fine," I said quickly.

She glanced at Ivan and gave him a smile. "It was nice to meet you, Ivan. Bye kids," she said, waving at them.

"Bye Rose!" they said in unison.

"Hopefully we'll see each other again, Rose," Ivan said winking.

I glared at him before leading Rose out of the living room.

"So, um, I'll see you tomorrow?" I said, not really wanting her to go. She couldn't stay, though, because, one, she had no reason to, and two, Ivan was still here and I didn't want her near him.

God, why was I so jealous? It wasn't like I was in love with her or something and there wasn't even anything going on between Ivan and her. I mean, they just met ten seconds ago.

Rose nodded. "Yeah. See you."

"Bye Roza," I said softly.

When I returned to the living room, my children had disappeared and Ivan was just standing there, smirking at me.

"How do you work when she's around?" he said, arching an eyebrow.

"I don't," I muttered.

"Damn, she really is hot," Ivan said. "No wonder you wanted to keep her all to yourself."

_I know._ "She's not a toy you can just throw away when you're tired of playing with it, Ivan," I said briskly.

"I know, I know, but damn… I'd definitely tap that!" he said grinning.

"No!" I said quickly. Maybe a little too quickly. I cleared my throat and continued, "Just leave Rose alone, okay? There are plenty of girls out there. Don't go messing around with Rose."

"Why not? Does she have a boyfriend?"

I was tempted to lie, but instead I decided to tell the truth. "No," I admitted.

"Then I don't see what the problem is," Ivan said.

"Ivan, don't," I warned. "I don't want you to ask her out. She's my – she's my kids' babysitter. I already told you, if it doesn't work out between you and her-"

"Yeah, yeah," Ivan cut me off, rolling his eyes. "I know why you don't want me to ask her out, but I have a feeling this is not the only reason you don't want me anything to do with her."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said stiffly.

"Do you like her?" he questioned, arching an eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, I don't know… You seem protective of her," Ivan said carefully. "Like you really care about her."

"So what if I care about her?" I said defensively. "That doesn't have to mean anything, right? She's just been a good friend to me and I don't want to see her get hurt. That also means I don't want to see her get hurt by you," I said, giving him a pointed look. "Which you will definitely do. You know the effect you have on women. So please…just leave her alone."

"Fine. Touchy subject," he mumbled. "If Tasha was still alive, she wouldn't be too pleased about this."

I glared at him. "Ivan…"

"That was uncalled for," he said, giving me an apologetic look. "Sorry."

"It's fine," I muttered. I knew he hadn't meant it like that.

He cleared his throat. "Well, I should go. We're still good for Thursday?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Alright. See you then."

I nodded and he walked out.

I only saw Rose briefly the next day, much to my disappointment. I tried not to think about why I was so disappointed about that. She'd already put her jacket on when I arrived home. Apparently, she'd been waiting for me to come back. Luckily, I wasn't late today.

"Inna's in her room, doing homework. Liam's taking a nap; he was tired and Alisa is taking a shower," she said.

"Oh okay," I said. "You need to be somewhere?"

She raised her eyebrows, giving me a questioning look.

"It's just that you seem to be in a rush," I said, gesturing towards her.

"Oh yeah… Christian and I are planning to have dinner somewhere and then go to the movies afterwards," she said with a smile. Then she glanced down at her watch. "That is, if he's still coming to pick me up."

"Oh. Well, have fun."

Her smile widened. "Thanks." It was quiet for a while until she cleared he throat and said, "So, um, Ivan seems nice."

Alarmed, I said quickly, "Oh, he isn't."

She frowned. "He isn't? But isn't he, like, your best friend?"

"Yes, he is," I amended, "but he's not nice with, um, girls." She gave me a weird look. "I mean, he – he doesn't treat them right. He's kind of a player so it's better if you don't get involved with him. He's never been in a serious relationship so yeah… It's best if you don't-"

Rose cut off my rambling. "I was just making conversation, Dimitri," she said, looking like she wanted to laugh. "I'm not interested in Ivan if that's what you're thinking."

_Thank God_, I thought.

"Oh. Okay," I said, trying to hide my relief. "You're probably the first girl who's ever said that."

"Well, someone's gotta be the first one," she said grinning.

I smiled. I wondered why she wasn't interested in Ivan. Every woman liked Ivan. They were attracted to him like bees to honey. Could it be possible she already liked someone else?

_Why the hell are you thinking about this?_ I chastised myself. _Does it matter if she likes someone or not? It's none of your concern._

I stood there, trying to think of something to say, but before I could the bell rang and Rose disappeared into the hallway. I followed her and watched as the kids came running downstairs to say hi to Christian.

"Have fun," I said again, feeling a spark of jealousy as Rose looped her arm in his. God, I really had to stop feeling like this around her. This was crazy.

"Thanks," she said smiling before leading Christian back to his car. "Come on, Chris, we can't be late for the movie."

I waited until they were gone and then closed the door with a sigh. I kind of felt guilty. I should be grieving over my wife, but instead I was crushing on the babysitter. But I couldn't help myself. She was just so different and amazing and…all kinds of good things.

I groaned inwardly. I guess I couldn't deny it any longer. Ivan was right; I really did like Rose. Probably a little bit too much.

_Shit._

* * *

**So Ivan met Rose and Dimitri was jealous. What do you think about that? :P Also, Christian finally found the courage to talk to Lissa. It was about time, huh? I'm going to try and update again this weekend and if it's not this weekend it'll be on Monday probably. Hope you have a nice day/evening! :) **


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you very much for the reviews! :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy**

* * *

**CHAPTER 9**

**DPOV**

It was still early when I came home from work, which was a nice change. I guess I could finally spend some time with my kids and Rose would probably be happy, too, to be able to go home early.

No one seemed to be in the house, though, when I entered the living room and looked around. I suddenly heard a voice singing. It was coming from the kitchen. Rose was doing the dishes, earbuds in her ears, and singing along to a song I didn't recognize.

I smirked and leaned against the wall, watching her. She hadn't even noticed me standing here. She just kept on singing. I then started to pay attention to what she was singing and I immediately wished I hadn't.

_We can get a little crazy just for fun, just for fun_

_Don't even try to hold it back_

_Just let go_

_Tie me up and take me over till you're done_

_Till I'm done_

_Oh God._ My eyes widened as I realized what that song lyric was about. I quickly straightened up and said her name, hoping she'd hear me, but she just started singing louder and, to make it worse, she started moving her hips along to the beat.

_Push up to my body, sink your teeth into my flesh_

_Get undressed, ta-taste the flesh_

_Bite into me harder, sink your teeth into my flesh_

_Pass the test, ta-taste the flesh_

I tried not to look at her beautiful legs as she swayed her hips and continued to sing. Why the hell did she have to wear shorts today? Why not some baggy pants or something else that covered up those terrific legs of her?!

_Hold me up against the wall_

_Give it till I beg, give me some more_

_Make me bleed, I like it raw_

_Like it raw, raw, raw_

_Push up to my body, sink your teeth into my flesh_

I tried to block out the words, but it was no use. I couldn't help myself; I was starting to get dirty thoughts about her and me because of that stupid song she was singing. I knew it was wrong, but this, seeing her dance like that and singing that song, was turning me on. God, she was killing me. This needed to stop right now.

"Rose!" I yelled.

She still didn't hear me so I quickly strode over and pulled the earbuds out of her ears. She gasped and her eyes widened in shock as she looked at me, speechless. I stared right back, breathing heavily. I glanced down and realized how close we were standing, but instead of stepping away, I took another step towards her.

"Roza," I said, my voice husky.

I didn't know what came over me, but I couldn't stop myself. I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips against hers. I could tell I'd taken her by surprise, but she responded to the kiss immediately and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I sucked on her bottom lip and she let out a moan as she parted her lips, granting me entrance. I slipped my tongue inside, exploring her mouth. Placing my hands on her hips, I lifted her and she wrapped her legs around my waist. Without breaking the kiss, I slowly took a few steps forward and set her down on the kitchen counter.

"Dimitri," she moaned as I kissed down her neck and shoulder. Her hands tugged at my hair and I let out a low growl before returning my lips to hers. Slowly, I slid my hand down to her ass and-

"Daddy!"

I shot up in bed, suddenly wide awake. My heart beat like a hammer in my chest and I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I glanced down and then noticed the tent I was sporting in my boxers. Shit. Luckily, the sheets were covering my 'problem' so my son, who was tugging at my arm, couldn't see.

"Daddy!" Liam said again, a huge grin on his face. He was in his pajamas and had his teddy bear with him. He jumped onto my bed and I quickly pulled my knees up. "Can you make blini for breakfast, Daddy?" he asked eagerly.

I glanced at the clock and noticed it wasn't even eight in the morning. It was Sunday, for God's sake. The only day I could sleep in.

"Uh, sure." Clearing my throat, I said, "Are your sisters awake?" He nodded. No doubt he'd woken them up the same way as he had with me. "Well, then you should go downstairs. I'll be down in a sec."

He nodded and sprinted out of the room. I sighed and lay back down, closing my eyes.

_It was just a dream_, I told myself over and over again. _It was just a dream._

Only it hadn't been just a dream. Just a few days ago, that very same situation had happened when I'd come home from work. Well, not the _exact_ same situation. Me watching her dance and sing, yes, but the making out part had not happened.

No, when Rose had realized I'd come home, she'd jumped up and let out an ear-piercing scream. Her cheeks had flushed, embarrassed I'd caught her dancing and singing. I didn't think she realized I'd been equally embarrassed – if not more – because she'd caught me staring at her. Yeah, the whole situation had been awkward.

Luckily, my kids hadn't been around. They'd been playing in the garden at that time. It'd been the last beautiful and warm day of this year.

"Dad!" I heard Liam yelling from downstairs.

"Yes, I'm coming!"

Sighing, I got up and made my way to the bathroom to take a cold shower. It was very much needed right now. When I came downstairs, all three of my children were waiting impatiently at the kitchen table.

"Finally!" Liam said, exasperated. "I'm hungry."

"Me too!" Alisa piped in.

I watched their eager faces and smiled. "Well, I guess I'd better get started then, huh?"

I tried to forget about the dream, but it was useless. Even days later, it was still bothering me. Ivan noticed something was up when we were at the gym on Thursday night. He stayed quiet the whole night, but when we walked back to the car, he finally asked, "Are you okay, Dimitri? You seem a little tense."

I glanced away, wondering if I should tell him what was bothering me, but that meant I would have to admit I liked Rose. Did I want that? Did I want him to know I was attracted to the babysitter? _Oh, screw it._

"I think you might be right about Rose," I blurted out.

Ivan looked caught off guard. "What?"

"I like her," I explained. "A lot."

He started grinning. "I knew it. I knew you-"

"It's not funny," I cut him off. "I don't know what to do anymore. I can't stop thinking about her. And when she's around, I just…" I shook my head and sighed, frustrated. "I'm even dreaming about her!"

Ivan arched an eyebrow. "You're dreaming about her?"

I nodded.

"What kind of dreams?"

I glared at him. "Not the kind you're thinking about." _But close._

He was still grinning as he said, "I was just asking."

I groaned and leaned against my car. "Seriously. I don't know what to do anymore."

Ivan's grin disappeared and he regarded me with utter seriousness. "You need to get laid, man," he said at last.

"Ivan! I'm being serious!"

"Me too," he said. "I mean… How long has it been? You've never gotten much with Tasha-"

"That's because I didn't want to," I muttered, not liking where this conversation was going to.

"I know, but now she's dead, you have, like, zero action. Unless…"

I clenched my teeth, not liking the way he was looking at me. "Unless what?"

"Unless you try for Rose," he suggested carefully.

"Are you insane?!"

"What?" he said shrugging. "She's hot."

"She's also several years younger than me," I argued. "And she's babysitting my kids."

"So? They don't need to know."

I stared at him, incredulous.

"I wouldn't think twice about it if I were you," Ivan said.

I pushed myself away from the car and opened the door. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I shouldn't have even brought it up in the first place."

"Why not?" Ivan said as he got inside the car. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I totally get why you like Rose."

"Let's just drop it, okay?" I said gruffly.

"Fine," Ivan said, "but if you ever feel the need to talk about it…"

"Thanks, but I'll be fine," I muttered.

I dropped Ivan off at his place and then went home. I found Inna on the couch, watching TV with Rose. Alisa and Liam had already gone to bed. Inna got up as soon as she saw me to hug me and I kissed her forehead before she went off to her room, too.

Now Rose and I were the only ones in the room and I didn't know where to look at. All I knew was that I couldn't look at her without thinking back to that stupid dream. Rose was getting ready to leave when I suddenly remembered something.

"Um, Rose?" I said, finally looking up at her. She gave me a questioning look, waiting for me to continue. "It's Alisa's birthday next week and I'm throwing her a party. Her friends are coming over and, well, she'd love it if you could come over, too."

She smiled. "Oh, sure. I'll be there."

I smiled back. "Great. Thanks. That means a lot to-" I cut myself off quickly. I'd almost said it meant a lot to _me_. Clearing my throat, I tried again, "It will mean a lot to Alisa."

"It's not a problem," Rose said. She opened the door and let herself out. "Good night, Dimitri."

**RPOV**

As I walked back to campus, my mind wandered off to Dimitri. Lately, things had been a little bit strained between us. He wouldn't look at me unless he really had to. I wondered if it was because of what had happened last week. I didn't get why he was having such a problem with it, though. I mean, _I_ had made a total embarrassment out of myself when he'd caught me dancing and singing in his kitchen while doing the dishes – not him.

Or maybe I was imagining things and I was the one acting weird. Ah, well, I was glad he'd invited me to Alisa's birthday party. I really liked spending time with Dimitri's kids. They were fun and always put a smile on my face.

When I reached my dorm room, I was surprised to see Christian sitting on the floor, near the door. He looked up when he heard my footsteps and stood up, smiling.

"Hey," I said, a little surprised to see him. "What's up? How long have you been sitting here at my door?"

"Not that long," he said with a shrug. "I figured I'd wait outside for you, because, you know, Avery…" He made a face. "Didn't seem like a good idea to disturb her."

I grinned. "Yeah, probably not." I glanced down at my watch. It was only half past nine. "You wanna go out for some drinks?" I asked.

"Sure," he said, following me to the stairs. "Maybe we can go to that bar where Lissa hangs out sometimes. She could be there."

"You going to stalk her some more?" I teased.

"No!" he said immediately. "It's just…well, she told me. And that if I wanted, I could come and hang out with her and her friends there."

I smiled. "It seems like you're getting along."

He smiled, too. "Yeah. I think I'm going to ask her out next time I see her," he said, suddenly a little nervous. "You think that's a good idea? Or should I wait a little longer?"

"No, why would you want to wait? You have to ask her out before someone else comes along and snatches her away."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Christian said, though he still looked a little unsure.

"Of course I'm right!" I said.

A look of determination crossed his face. "Alright. I'll ask her out."

I smiled proudly. "Now I hear you talking. It's about time you grow some balls, Chris."

"Oh Rose, I'm so glad you're my friend," he retorted sarcastically. "Because you're always so nice to me, you know."

Grinning, I put my arm around his shoulders. "Just saying it how it is, my friend."

* * *

**So, did you like this chapter? What did you think of Dimitri's dream? :P And who'd like to find out more about Tasha next chapter? ;)**

**Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Have a nice day/evening! ^^**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you so much for all the nice reviews! It means a lot to me! :) **

**I also want to apologize for the late update. I've been really busy the last couple of days. I'm sorry. But here's the chapter you've all been waiting for and it's extra long. ;)**

**Fan101 - Thank you very much! There will be a Inna & Rose conversation in the future, but not just yet. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 10**

**RPOV**

"Pick up, pick up," I muttered to myself as I paced around my room. "Pick up the damn phone!"

Once again, it went straight to voicemail. Angry, I threw my phone onto my bed and cried out in frustration. I'd been trying to call my mom for about half an hour now, but she never picked up. She was probably too busy having a great time with her new boyfriend.

Sighing, I sat down on my bed and put my head in my hands, trying to force back the tears that threatened to spill over. My mother couldn't have chosen a better day to ignore my calls. I wondered if she even remembered today was _the_ day.

I couldn't bring myself to think about it so I got up and took my stuff, propping it into my bag, before making my way to class. I was surprised to see Christian when my class finished. He approached me as soon as I stepped into the hallway.

"Hey. You okay?" he asked quietly.

I gave him a reassuring smile. "Sure." The look on his face told me he didn't believe me and my smile faltered. "I'm fine," I said sighing. "Thanks for asking, though."

He nodded. "You heard from your mom yet?"

I shook my head. "She isn't answering her phone. Probably busy with her boyfriend," I said, voicing my earlier thoughts. "Or she's just ignoring me."

His look turned sympathetic. "She probably didn't see it. I'm sure she'll call you back soon."

I shrugged. "Whatever." My eyes were burning with unshed tears. I quickly blinked them away. "I shouldn't even be complaining about this to you. I mean, you just lost your aunt," I mumbled.

Christian put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Hey, it's okay to be sad. It isn't because your father died four years ago that you can't be sad about it anymore. I mean, he's your _father_. I get that you're upset-"

"I'm not upset," I protested.

He gave me a knowing look. "You are, Rose. And that is okay. It's completely normal. You were close to him and it's normal you still miss him."

I sniffled and wiped at my eyes. "I guess." Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself down. "I should go now. I have to pick up Liam from school."

Christian nodded. "You going to be okay?"

I forced a smile. "Sure. I'm fine now."

He still looked uncertain, but after reassuring him I was okay, we parted ways. I wasn't alone for long, though. As I walked across campus, Adrian joined me.

"Hey Rose," he greeted. I raised my eyebrows at him, surprised. This was one of the few times he called me by my name. "How are you doing?"

I frowned. He never asked me how I was doing. "What do you want, Adrian? I don't have time for-"

He pulled me to a stop and I was surprised to see concern etching his handsome face. "I just wanted to check if you're okay. I know today is, um, a hard day for you."

If I hadn't been surprised already, I was definitely now. "You remember?"

Adrian nodded. "Of course."

Last year, I'd been upset too on this day. Back then, I'd been with Adrian and I'd told him everything about my father. He'd comforted me the whole day. Adrian might not have been the best boyfriend in the world, but that had been really sweet of him. And that he remembered it and wanted to make sure I was okay… Well, that was incredibly thoughtful and sweet.

"I'm okay, Adrian," I said quietly. "Thanks for asking."

"Okay," he said, his voice soft. "If you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me."

I gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

As I walked to Liam's school, I tried calling my mom again, but she never answered. Frustrated, I put my phone away and busied myself with Liam that afternoon. We were playing a parlor game when Inna and Alisa came home from school.

Liam was tired of playing games and wanted to watch TV so I went to sit with Inna and Alisa in the kitchen. They were doing homework so I figured I could study, too.

But I was distracted. I kept thinking about my mom and how she did not answer her phone on the one day I needed her.

I snapped out of my reverie when someone tugged at my arm. I looked up and saw Liam standing next to me.

"Can we go play tag outside?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, but I can't right now," I said. I was not in the mood to play right now. To be honest, I was not in the mood to do anything right now. "But maybe your sisters want to," I added when I saw the disappointment on his face.

I glanced over at them. Alisa nodded, enthusiastic, and Inna looked unsure. Her siblings looked at her pleadingly and, eventually, they won her over. I watched them chase each other in the garden for a while and then returned to the kitchen to order pizza.

It was Thursday so that meant Dimitri wouldn't be home until later tonight, because he went to the gym on Thursdays with Ivan. That also meant I had to feed the kids and since I didn't have any cooking skills I always ordered pizza, which the kids loved.

Later that night, when I'd put the kids to bed, I tried calling my mom again. I must've called her about twenty times now and I was surprised she hadn't even noticed. Or maybe she really was ignoring me. That was a depressing thought.

"Come on," I muttered. "Pick up the damn phone, Mom."

She didn't.

"Damn it!" I cried.

I wanted to smash my phone against the wall, but I stopped myself just in time. I didn't want to wake the kids and I didn't want to have to buy a new phone just because I couldn't control my temper. So instead, I just cursed again and again.

I didn't realize I was crying until, suddenly, a voice said, "Roza, what's wrong? Are you – are you crying?"

I froze and looked up. Dimitri was standing in the doorway, his sports bag next to him on the floor. He looked at me, concerned.

"Roza?" he said hesitantly.

_Fuck._

**DPOV**

I was in a good mood when I drove back home from the gym. I didn't know why, but it might have something to do with the fact I would be seeing Rose and that I would be able to talk to her, even if it was just for a few minutes.

My mood plummeted, though, when I arrived home and found Rose in the living room. Crying. She was sitting on the couch, her face buried in her hands and her shoulders shaking. Something must be terribly wrong if she was crying. I'd never actually seen her sad. Grumpy, yes, but this sad? No. Never.

Seeing her like this… It was breaking my heart.

I swallowed heavily and said, "Roza, what's wrong? Are you – are you crying?"

I mentally slapped myself. _What a dumb question. Of course she was crying!_

Startled, she glanced up at me, her eyes wide.

"Roza?" I said after several moments of silence.

Another moment passed and then she stood up, averting her eyes from me. "The kids are in their beds, asleep," she said in a monotone voice. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She walked past me, but I grabbed her by her hand and pulled her to a stop.

"Roza, what's wrong?" I asked, worried.

"Nothing," she said, still not looking at me.

"It doesn't look like nothing," I protested. "You…you were crying."

"It's nothing," she repeated. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I should go."

"No, wait," I pleaded, grabbing her by the hand again. "I can't let you leave when you're this upset. Please tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help you."

Hesitantly, she looked up at me. Her eyes were red-rimmed and watery. Even after crying, she still looked beautiful.

"That's kind of you, Dimitri, but you can't help me. It's…" She sighed. "I really should go now. I'm sorry…for this."

"No, I'm not letting you go," I said firmly. "Whatever it is that's wrong, you can tell me." She glanced back at me. "You can trust me, Roza," I said in a softer voice.

"I know I can," she responded softly, "but I don't want to burden you with my problems. You've already got enough going on in your life without me-"

"You're not burdening me," I interrupted gently. She didn't say anything. "I'm worried."

Rose bit her lip. "Well…"

I tugged at her hand and led her back to the couch. I went to fetch her a glass of water and offered it to her. She smiled at me gratefully before taking a sip. I sat down next to her and waited until she was ready to tell me what was bothering her.

Rose took another deep breath before saying quietly, "Four years ago, my father died of cancer."

I stiffened. I hadn't expected anything like this.

She looked up at me, horrified. "Shit," she muttered, misinterpreting my reaction. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything. I mean, your wife _just_ passed away and here I am talking about my father who's been dead for several years."

"No, it's okay," I said quickly. She looked on the verge of crying again and that was the last thing I wanted. I gave her hand a gentle squeeze and said, "I'm here to listen."

She wiped at her eyes. "Well… I've been trying to call my mom all day, but she doesn't answer her phone. I would've liked to talk to her today, you know… My mom and I aren't really close, but I know my dad would've wanted… He would've wanted us to try-"

She choked on her words and I started rubbing her back soothingly, hoping she would calm down enough to be able to talk.

"It's like she doesn't care," Rose cried. "My dad did _everything_ for us. But then he got sick and…when he died, only a couple of months later she already had a new boyfriend. And now she's always traveling around with him. She's never got time for me. Even on this day…" Tears were brimming in her eyes. "I just wanted to talk to her, but it's like she's ignoring me. It's like she doesn't care that he's dead."

I didn't know her mother, but from the sound of it, it didn't seem like she was the best mother in the world. I found it hard to believe, though, that she would ignore her own daughter. Maybe she was having a hard time, too. Maybe that was why she wasn't calling her back.

Carefully, I voiced my thoughts to Rose. "Maybe she wants to talk to you, but she's afraid. Maybe she's having a hard time, too."

Rose shook her head. "I don't think so," she sniffled. "She didn't seem too sad when he died."

A tear escaped the corner of her eye and she quickly wiped it away. I felt so bad for her and I desperately wanted to help her, but I couldn't. All I could do, was comfort her.

"Come here, Roza," I said, pulling her into my arms. She buried her face in my chest and cried quietly. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly. "I'm so sorry."

When her sobs had quieted down, she pulled away slightly and looked up at me. "God, I'm sorry. This is so embarrassing," she mumbled. "I didn't want to… I mean, you obviously are having a hard time right now with your wife just passed away…" She shook her head and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," I said gently. "It's fine. Really."

She pulled out of my arms completely and sat up straight, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry if I ruined your shirt."

"You didn't. It's fine," I said, waving her apology away.

We were quiet for a while and I wondered what was going on in her head. She was obviously still upset about her father's death and her mother ignoring her, but I think the worst was over now. I think crying, letting it all out, had made her feel slightly better.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Rose asked quietly.

"Um, sure," I said, suddenly a little nervous.

"When I first came here," Rose started hesitantly, "I couldn't help but notice there aren't any pictures of you…and Tasha." Oh shit. "And you're not wearing your wedding ring anymore. Is it… Is it too painful for you?"

Hmm, how was I going to explain this one without coming off as a jerk? Especially after what she'd just told me about her mom not caring that her father was dead.

I shifted a little, uncomfortable. "It's complicated," I said, not looking at her.

Her eyes widened slightly. "I shouldn't have asked, huh? Of course I shouldn't have. I mean, that's personal and it's-"

"No, it's okay," I interrupted. "You asked me if you could and I said yes. It's just… Well, I don't want you to hate me when I tell you," I admitted.

Rose looked at me, dumbfounded. "Why would I hate you?

I averted my eyes from her and took a deep breath. "I never really loved Tasha. At least, not as a husband should."

Rose looked even more surprised than a few moments ago. "W-what do you mean?"

"Tasha and I were friends – well, sort of – before we got married," I explained. "One night we got drunk at a party and, well, one thing led to another. A few weeks later she found out she was pregnant. I was only seventeen, but I knew I had to do the right thing. I couldn't just abandon her and the baby so I… I married her. I told myself I would learn to love her and that it would all be okay, but…"

"But that never happened?" she guessed.

I nodded. "I tried, though. I knew she had feelings for me, but I just couldn't… I just couldn't return it. Things were better for a while when Inna was born. I still didn't love her like I should, but it was better. That didn't last long, though. A few months after Alisa was born, Tasha and I started fighting more and more. She blamed me for a lot of things, like, I wasn't trying hard enough."

Rose gave me a small, sympathetic smile. Her eyes were filled with compassion. That would probably change when I'd finished my story.

"In the end, Tasha suggested we should try for another baby. She thought it would make things better. She might not think I was doing my best trying to love her, but I really was and I wanted to make her happy so I agreed. Besides, I'd always wanted a big family and since I was – well, I don't know how else to say it – _stuck_ with Tasha for the rest of my life, I figured why not?But a year after Liam was born, things started to get bad again. And it was even worse than before."

"What happened?" Rose asked softly.

I sighed. "Tasha started neglecting the children. She would always do things with Inna, like take her out and buy her some ice cream or something, but Alisa and Liam… It was like they didn't exist anymore. I told her she should treat them equally. From that moment on, she started paying more attention to them, but it was still not the same as with Inna." I recalled how Tasha had given Inna special treats and expensive stuff while Alisa and Liam got nothing.

"Inna was always her favorite and she made sure everyone knew it," I said. "I don't think Tasha realized how this made Alisa and Liam feel." I let out another sigh. "Tasha also got extremely mad when something didn't go her way. I had to make a lot of sacrifices in order to try and make her happy. For example, I wanted to teach informatics and I'd been offered to do the job, but she wanted me to take on another job so I could be home more often to spend time with her. I did what she asked because I didn't want her to take out her anger on the kids. But still, it was not good enough for her." Nothing I did had been good enough for her.

I cleared my throat and continued, "Anyway, we pretended everything was fine when the kids were around. I didn't want them to know that we were fighting, but I knew we couldn't keep going on like this either."

Rose bit her lip. "So…what did you do?"

"I thought about divorcing her," I admitted, "but I couldn't do that to the kids. But then Moira – Christian's mom – came to me one night and told me something about Tasha."

"What?" Rose asked carefully.

"I'd always thought that it was bad luck, her getting pregnant that night when we got drunk," I said. "But then Moira told me it had been her plan all along."

I sighed, remembering that one awful night when Moira had told me everything. She'd known for a longer time, but Tasha had asked her to keep it a secret. But seeing how bad things were going, had made Moira change her mind. She was the only one who'd noticed that things weren't going well between us.

"I know it's partly my fault. I shouldn't have slept with her. If I'd been sober I wouldn't have, but, well, I wasn't," I muttered. Plus, back then I'd been young and foolish. "I hadn't used protection because Tasha assured me she was on birth control. But she wasn't. She lied to me that night. It was a long shot, but she did get pregnant. Like she'd hoped she would. Tasha knew me well enough to know I would do the right thing and marry her. And, apparently, that's what she'd wanted from the beginning."

Rose let out a small gasp.

"I didn't believe Moira at first. I mean, it's crazy, right?" I said. Rose nodded, her eyes wide in shock. "But when I confronted Tasha, she admitted it was all true."

"Oh my God," Rose whispered. She reached out and grabbed my hand, lacing her fingers with mine as she gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "Dimitri, that's…awful. I'm so sorry."

I looked down at our joined hands and couldn't help the small smile slowly spreading across my face. It disappeared quickly, though, when I thought of Tasha again.

"I decided I couldn't stay with her any longer. I told her I wanted a divorce. She got mad as hell, of course, and then left." I swallowed heavily and looked up at Rose. "She never came back."

"Was it…was it the night she died? In the car crash?" Rose asked hesitantly.

I nodded. "She was on her way home, but she was drunk." I shook my head slightly and sighed. "She'd been drinking a lot lately. Probably because things were going so bad between us. But that night she drank more than usual and… she crashed into a tree."

"Oh, Dimitri…"

"I feel like it's my fault…that it happened," I admitted, not looking at her. I couldn't bear to see the compassion written all over her face anymore. I didn't deserve it. "I might not have loved her, but she was the mother of my kids. I never wanted this to happen to her. I keep thinking that if I hadn't told her I wanted a divorce she would still be alive. Or if I'd tried a little harder…"

"Dimitri, what happened to her is not your fault," Rose said firmly. "She was in the wrong. Not you. You had every right to be angry with her. She practically tricked you into marrying her and the way she behaved during your marriage-"

"I know, but maybe I could've-"

"No. Stop blaming yourself," she interrupted gently. "_It isn't your fault._ What happened is horrible, but it isn't your fault. She should've been responsible and not have driven while drunk."

"Well, her parents think it's my fault," I said sadly. They didn't talk to me anymore. They wouldn't even talk to the kids anymore, even though it was obviously not their fault.

"Well, they're wrong," Rose said stubbornly. "You can't feel guilty about this, Dimitri. You could've done things differently regarding your marriage, but everyone makes mistakes – Tasha did too. The accident…. It wasn't your fault. Tasha _chose_ to drink that night. And that choice… Well, it cost her her life. You are not to blame for that."

I still didn't want to look at her. "The kids don't know… They don't know I wanted to divorce her. And… I don't want them to find out. It's already bad enough they lost their mother. If they knew…"

"I won't tell them," Rose promised.

Finally, I looked up at her. "Thank you," I said, giving her a grateful smile. She returned my smile and let go of my hands. I wish she hadn't. "No one knows about this, except for Ivan. And, well, you," I added, looking at her.

"I won't tell anyone," she vowed. "I promise."

"I know," I murmured. I let out a sigh. "Everyone thinks that I was this loving husband and now they're pitying me. They all feel bad that I lost my wife. But I… I don't deserve their compassion. If they knew the truth, if they knew I'm not the loving husband they all thought I was, they wouldn't-"

"Dimitri, you did what you could," Rose interrupted, her voice firm. "You _tried_. But sometimes…" She sighed. "Sometimes it just doesn't work, no matter how hard you try. You can't force yourself to love someone."

The look in her eyes was so sincere, it was clear that she meant what she said. I was relieved. Relieved she understood. Relieved that she wasn't looking at me like I was some horrible person, like Tasha's parents had looked at me.

"Besides… You had every right to want to divorce her," she added.

I gave her a small smile. "Thank you, Roza. And not just for this, but also for listening."

She smiled back. "Well, you listened to me too. And you even let me ruin your shirt," she added, half laughing. "Sorry again."

I chuckled. "It's fine. You didn't ruin it."

"I did! There's mascara on it. My face is probably smudged with mascara too," she said frowning as she rubbed her fingers under her eyes.

I was still smiling. "No, you look beautiful."

She blushed. I looked away, a little embarrassed. I hoped I hadn't overstepped my boundaries by telling her this.

"I probably should go home," Rose said after a few moments. "It's getting late."

I glanced at my watch. It was nearly ten o'clock. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to keep you h-"

"It's okay," she interrupted gently. "It was nice…talking to you. I feel better now."

"Me too," I admitted. She got up and put on her jacket. I followed her to the front door. "You going to be okay walking home alone?" I didn't like her going home alone in the dark, but, sadly, I couldn't go with her. I couldn't leave my kids here on their own. Especially not at night. "Do you want me to call Christian? Maybe he can-"

"I'll be fine, comrade. Thanks, though."

I nodded. "Are we…are we okay?" I asked hesitantly. "You don't think differently of me now, do you?"

Rose smiled. "Of course not. I still think you're an amazing man and a wonderful father. Your kids are very lucky to have you as a father."

Now I was blushing. "Roza…"

She cleared her throat. "I should go now. Good night, Dimitri," she murmured.

To my surprise and delight, she leaned in and kissed my cheek. I gaped at her as she walked away, my heart hammering in my chest.

"Rose, wait," I called, taking a few steps forwards. She turned around, giving me a questioning look. "You're still coming this Saturday, right? For Alisa's birthday?"

She smiled. "Sure. I'll be there."

She started walking again and, smiling, I turned around and went back inside. I walked upstairs, checking on my kids. They were all fast asleep, luckily. If there was anything I was grateful for in my life, it was them. I loved them so, so much. I wouldn't want to trade my family for anything in the world. I might not have been the best husband in the world, but I would try to be the best father to my kids.

* * *

**OK, so what do you think about Tasha now? How do you feel about Dimitri? Was he right to want to divorce her? It was kind of a sad chapter, but, I promise, next chapter will be much happier. And for the people wondering when Rose and Dimitri are going to kiss, it will be in a few chapters ;)**

**Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Have a nice day/evening! :) **


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you very much for the reviews! :) **

**Some of you were wondering if Rose is going to be attacked on her way home. Don't worry, it's not going to happen. Dimitri is just being overprotective ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 11**

**RPOV**

On Saturday, I went to Alisa's birthday party with Christian. Together, we'd bought her a present. It was a large bag with a fun ballet theme. It was also in her favorite color, pink. I thought it would be nice for her to use when she went to her dance classes. At first, I wasn't sure if she'd like it, but her face lit up with a big smile after she'd opened her present.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, attacking me with a hug. She let me go to hug Christian too. "Come on, everyone's in the living room," she said, tugging us towards the door.

We entered the living room, which was decorated with balloons, serpentines and other decorations for Alisa's ninth birthday. A couple of her friends were there and her family, of course. Ivan was there, too.

Though Dimitri had told me a little about his family, I'd never met them before. Now they were all here and, boy, were there a lot of them. Dimitri had three sisters. Viktoria, the youngest was nice and very social. She was just a year younger than me. I took an instant liking to her. Sonya and Karolina were both older than Dimitri. Karolina, the eldest, had a son, Paul. He was the same age as Inna.

Olena, Dimitri's mother, was very kind, just like the rest of his family. His grandmother, Yeva, didn't seem to like me, though. Or maybe she just didn't like strangers. Whatever it was, I figured I'd better stay out of her way. Dimitri's father wasn't here. He was traveling for work. It reminded me a little of my mom, who was also always traveling. Not for work, though, but for fun.

Even though, they'd all moved to America years ago, Olena's and Yeva's accent was much stronger than Dimitri's. I actually doubted if Yeva could speak English, because I only heard her grumble in Russian a few times.

"Thanks for coming," Dimitri said when we were alone. Everyone else was still in the living room, but Dimitri had gone to the kitchen to get the cake. I'd volunteered to help him. "Alisa's really happy you could make it. So am I."

I couldn't help but smile. Something fluttered in my stomach as I looked up at him. He smiled at me fondly and I felt a blush creep onto my face. Quickly, I averted my eyes.

"I couldn't miss her birthday party, could I now?" I teased, hoping I sounded casual. Changing the subject, I said, "Your family is nice. Are you guys close?"

He smiled. "Yeah, pretty much. I don't get to see them often, but we're still close."

"How come you don't see them that often?" I asked.

He shrugged. "No time. And, well, it's not like they live nearby. The drive is at least two hours."

I frowned. "Why'd you move out here then? Why didn't you stay closer to them?"

"Tasha wanted to move here," Dimitri said.

"Oh."

"Yeah. It was another attempt to try and make her happy." He shrugged again. Clearing his throat, he said, "So, did your mother ever call you back?"

I nodded, grimacing. "She did. But she wasn't too happy," I muttered.

Yesterday, she'd finally called me back and chewed me out for ruining her vacation. Apparently, I'd stressed her out by calling her every other hour. I'd retorted that if she'd called me back right away, she could've enjoyed the rest of her day, but she wouldn't have none of that. And then she'd told me she didn't want to be reminded of anything that had to do with my father. She'd told me she had moved on – with her new boyfriend – and that I had to move on, too. Ouch.

"She didn't appreciate my calls," I told Dimitri. "Apparently she doesn't miss my father at all."

"I'm sure that's not true," Dimitri said gently.

I snorted. "Well, she told me different."

Dimitri put his hand on mine and gave a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry. If you ever want to talk about it… I'm here for you," he said softly.

I looked up at him and gave him a small smile. "Thanks."

He smiled back, still holding on to my hand. I don't think he realized it.

"Hey, is the cake almost ready to be served or what? I'm starving!"

Startled, we both looked up at Ivan, who was standing in the doorway. Dimitri finally let go of my hand and quickly turned back to the counter.

"Yeah, I'm coming," he said.

I followed Dimitri back to the living room with the second cake. Ivan was smirking at us as we returned, but mercifully he didn't say anything. I didn't know him all that well, but I knew him well enough to know he liked to tease and make inappropriate remarks about Dimitri and me. I didn't know how, but it seemed like he knew I liked Dimitri a little more than I should. It made me feel a little uncomfortable. Whenever Ivan made such a comment, Dimitri just rolled his eyes so I don't think he felt the same way as me. I guess he was just annoyed that Ivan sometimes teased him about me.

I made sure to sit far away from Dimitri. I noticed him looking at me a few times. I refused to get excited about that, because it was probably just because he was still a little worried about me. Luckily, Viktoria sat down next to me just then and started chatting, effectively distracting me from Dimitri.

**DPOV**

"She seems like a really nice girl."

Startled, I straightened up and glanced away from Rose. I'd been leaning against the wall, watching Rose talk to Viktoria.

"Huh? Yeah, she is nice, I suppose," I said casually.

"Well, you ought to know. She's babysitting your kids," my mother said, chuckling.

I glanced back at Rose. Liam had climbed onto her lap and she wrapped her arms around him. He said something to her and she laughed, ruffling his hair. I smiled.

"They seem to like her, too," Mama mused.

I nodded. "Yeah, they do. Liam adores her."

"And you?" she questioned.

I shifted uncomfortably. "W-what do you mean?"

"Well, if the look on your face is anything to go by, you clearly adore her too," she responded, smiling at me knowingly.

I blushed furiously. "I… I don't," I stammered.

"You never looked at Tasha the way you are looking at that girl," she continued as if I hadn't said anything. "That must mean she is special. If that's true then don't let her slip away."

She gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze before walking over to Karolina and Sonya, who were having a discussion over something trivial.

I looked over at Rose again. Liam was still on her lap, eating chocolate cake, while Paul was sitting next to her, studying her carefully.

"You know, your mother is right."

_Fuck._ Reluctantly, I looked away from Rose and looked up at Ivan. "You were eavesdropping?"

"No, of course not," he said grinning. "I just passed by and couldn't help but hear…"

I sighed and walked into the kitchen, away from all the noise and away from Rose. Ivan followed me inside and closed the door.

"Nothing can happen between her and me," I said.

"But you want something to happen?" Ivan questioned, arching an eyebrow.

"No," I said slowly. He smirked and I shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway. She's babysitting my kids. I can't-"

"What does that matter?" Ivan interrupted. "Your kids love her."

"I know, but it'd be too complicated," I said. "And then there's still the age difference…"

Ivan rolled his eyes. "You aren't _that_ much older than her. That's just a lame excuse."

"It's not an excuse," I argued. "It's-"

I cut myself off when the door opened and my mother walked in. "We are leaving. Is everything okay here?" she asked, looking from Ivan to me.

"Sure," I said, forcing a smile. "I'll walk you out."

I thanked my family for coming and promised them I'd visit them with the kids during winter break. Shortly after, Ivan also left. He had a date and didn't want to show up late. When Alisa's friends had gone home and the party was over, I noticed what a mess they'd made. Great. I would have to do a lot of cleaning tomorrow.

"I should go," Christian announced, getting up from the couch. "I've got somewhere to be."

Rose smiled at that. "You going to Lissa?" she said in a teasing voice.

Huh. This was new. "Who is Lissa?" I asked.

"No one," Christian said hastily.

Rose grinned. "Lissa is his soon-to-be girlfriend."

I crossed my arms and smirked. "Oh really? How come I've never heard about her before, Christian?"

To my surprise, he blushed. "It's not that big of a deal. We're just going out on a date," he said stiffly. That made Rose laugh and he shot her a glare. "So if you'll excuse me now…" He started for the door, but then stopped and looked at Rose. "You coming or what?"

Rose glanced at me for a brief moment and then said, "Um, I think I'm going to help Dimitri clean up."

I wanted to protest that she didn't have to help me, but I cut myself off. If she wanted to stay a little while longer, who was I to say no?

Christian gave her a weird look, but then shrugged. "Alright then."

"You don't have to stay here and help me," I said when we were alone. The kids were upstairs, doing their own thing.

"Oh, that's okay. I don't mind," she said shrugging. "I wouldn't know what to do else anyway."

"You don't like to go out?" I asked as I walked back to the kitchen with the empty glasses.

"From time to time," Rose said as she followed me and put the plates in the sink. "I don't go out anymore as often."

"Probably because babysitting my kids is taking so much from your time?" I said, feeling a little bad about it.

She smiled. "Maybe," she teased. Then she sobered up and shrugged. "No, it's just… I don't know. I don't think it is as fun anymore."

We talked a little more as we cleaned everything up. When we were done, I thanked her for helping me. She started to put her coat on and I desperately tried to think of something to make her stay. I didn't know why, but I didn't want her to leave – well, I knew why, I just didn't want to admit it.

"What are you doing tonight?" I blurted out.

"Um, I don't know," she said, a little sheepish. "Why?"

"Would you…" I cleared my throat and tried again. "Would you like to stay for dinner? Since it's Alisa's birthday, she gets to choose what we eat. She already told me she wanted pizza and I know that's your favorite food…" She gave me a funny look and I realized I was rambling. "I mean, it's just an idea… You don't have to… I just thought-"

Rose smiled. "Okay."

I blinked, momentarily confused. "Okay?"

She laughed. "Okay. I'll stay for dinner. If that's what you want – and the kids, of course."

"Of course they'd want you to stay for dinner," I said.

"Great. Cause I'd love some pizza," she said jokingly.

I smiled at her, relieved. "Good. I'll go…order the pizza."

I went to the kitchen and when I came back ten minutes later, Rose was sitting on the couch with Liam on her lap again. They were both laughing over something. Liam had his arms wrapped around her neck and rested his head on her shoulder, looking up at Rose adoringly. I smiled. I think he had a crush on Rose.

_Well, he isn't the only one_, I thought involuntarily.

Shaking my head, I turned away from them and went upstairs to tell Alisa and Inna the pizza was ordered and that they should come down soon.

Half an hour later, we were all eating pizza in the living room. The kids were all happy, which I was glad for. They'd all been devastated when their mother had died, but since Rose had come along, they'd started to feel happier – even Inna. It had taken her awhile, but, at last, she'd grown fond of Rose.

I wondered how things would've gone if Rose hadn't been here every day for us. It would've definitely not been as good as now. Really, as I looked at the happy smiles on my children's faces as they listened to Rose telling a joke, I realized I had a lot to thank her for. She'd saved my family and I would forever be grateful for that.

* * *

**I hope you liked the chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you think ;)**

**Have a nice day/evening! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you so much for all the reviews! :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 12**

**RPOV**

I flinched when the door slammed shut, hard.

"Can you not do that?" I groaned, rolling over in bed. I had a massive headache and I wasn't feeling all too well. I'd been feeling off for a couple of days now, but today was worse. Much worse.

"Do what?" Avery said, sounding annoyed.

"Slam the door."

"Sorry," she said, rolling her eyes. "Why are you still in bed anyway? Don't you have to go to class?"

I groaned again. "Yeah…" I rolled onto my back and rubbed my eyes. "I'm not feeling well. I think I'm going to stay in today."

I suddenly started having a coughing fit, which made my headache only worse. I probably had a cold or something. I sure sounded like it.

"I'd better go," Avery muttered, grabbing her bag. "I don't want to get ill, too."

She left and this time she didn't slam the door - thankfully. I curled up under the covers and closed my eyes again, trying to fall asleep again, when I suddenly remembered that I had to babysit in a few hours. I didn't think I'd be able to, though, because honestly, I felt like shit.

Sighing, I sat up, feeling slightly dizzy, and reached for my cell phone on the nightstand. I dialed Dimitri's number and waited for him to answer.

"Hello Rose. Everything alright?"

"No," I moaned.

"What's wrong?" He sounded worried.

"I don't feel well. I can't come and babysit today. I'm sorry."

"Oh, that's okay. I'll…figure something out," he said.

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

"No, it's fine. Don't worry about it," he said gently. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah," I said. My throat felt dry. "I'll be fine. I just need some rest."

"Okay," he said. "Take care, Roza."

I disconnected and got up to fetch a glass of water and some painkillers for my headache. I quickly returned to bed and curled up into a ball. Closing my eyes, I fell asleep almost immediately.

Hours later, I woke up when I heard someone knocking on my door. Wondering who it could be, I got up and opened the door. To my surprise, Dimitri stood in the hallway. He looked up at me when I opened the door and gave me a small smile.

"Hey. I brought you some soup," he said, holding up a cup of chicken soup. I stepped aside, still a little surprised, and let him enter. "How are you feeling?"

"Not that great," I admitted. If I'd known he would drop by, I would've cleaned up a little bit. I was sure I looked like a mess. Damn. Well, it was too late now. "Why are you here? How do you even know where I live?"

"Christian told me. I called him," he explained. "I wanted to check if you're alright."

"Thanks. That's sweet of you." He handed me the soup and I smiled at him gratefully before taking a sip. "But what about the kids? Where are they?"

"Christian's with them," Dimitri said.

I sat back down on my bed and he came to sit next to me. "Thank you for this," I said, holding up the cup of soup. "You didn't have to come all the way down here, though, just for me."

"That's alright," he said smiling. "Like I said, I wanted to see for myself that you're okay."

I smiled. Dimitri was such a sweetheart. And so thoughtful. He was just incredible. We sat in comfortable silence for a while and I drank my soup.

Even though the soup had warmed me up a little, I was still shivering. Dimitri noticed and got up, motioning for me to lie back down in bed. He pulled the covers over me and then sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You need some extra blankets?" he asked.

"No, I'm good. Thanks," I said smiling.

"Need something else?"

I shook my head. "I'm fine now," I mumbled.

He smiled. "Well, I'll let you get some rest then."

I didn't want him to leave, but I knew he couldn't stay here forever. He probably needed to get back to his kids.

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" he said.

"I will," I promised.

He smiled and, slowly, he leaned down and pressed his lips against my forehead. _Oh my._ My heart skipped a beat and I looked up at him as he pulled away from me, still smiling.

"Get well soon, Roza," he murmured, gently tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear.

I was too stunned to say anything. He got up and walked back to the door. He lifted his hand to open it, but before he could, the door already opened. He quickly stepped back and Avery walked in, almost bumping into him.

"Umm, who the hell are you and what are you doing in my room?" Avery asked, rather impolite.

Dimitri glanced back at me. "I'm Dimitri. I'm a friend of Rose…"

"Oh, you are Dimitri?" Avery said, her eyes widening slightly. She looked him up and down and then flashed him a flirtatious grin. "I've heard so much about you. It's nice to meet you, Dimitri. I'm Avery."

I groaned inwardly. Great. This was just great. Now Dimitri thought I talked about him to Avery, which was not true at all. I could see Dimitri felt a little uncomfortable, with the way she way she was looking at him. God, could she be more obvious?

"Avery, Dimitri was leaving so please let him pass," I sighed.

"Sure," she said, still smiling at Dimitri. "Have a nice day."

"Yeah, you too," Dimitri mumbled. He glanced at me one last time and gave me a tiny smile before leaving.

Avery closed the door and turned to me. "Holy shit. That guy's hot!" I didn't say anything, but I didn't need to. "Oh man, if you ever quit your job and he needs a new babysitter or something, I'm all for it," she continued. "He can ask me anytime."

"Yeah… I don't think he will," I muttered.

She didn't hear me. "Is he ready to date yet? Or is he still, like, hung up on his wife?"

_Oh no._ "He isn't interested in dating anyone," I said quickly. "Besides, you really want to date a man who has three kids?"

She shrugged and grinned. "If he looks like that…"

"Well, it's not going to happen so don't keep your hopes up," I snapped.

Avery raised her eyebrows at me. "Touchy."

I scowled and turned away from her. She was ruining my mood. Dimitri had made me feel better when he'd come to visit me and then when he'd kissed me – yeah, I know it was just a kiss on the forehead but it was still a kiss, right? – it had lifted my mood, but now… Yeah, my mood had plummeted again. Thanks to Avery.

"You want to keep him to yourself? Is that it?" she asked.

"No," I muttered. "He isn't mine so…"

"Yeah. But you want him, don't you? I mean, you'd be crazy if you didn't-"

"I don't want him," I lied. She started to say something else, but I cut her off again. "I'm tired. Will you please let me sleep?"

"Fine," she said petulantly. "I'll go study in the library then."

She propped some books into her bag and then left. I let out a sigh of relief and closed my eyes, going back to sleep.

**DPOV**

"When's Rose coming back?" Liam asked for the third time.

"I don't know. When she's feeling better," I responded.

He pouted and crawled into his bed. I sat down on the edge of his bed and tucked him in.

"Can't I go visit her?"

"No, we should let her get some rest," I said.

I had to admit, though, I missed her too and would love to see her. She'd been sick for two days now, though today she'd called me, telling me she was feeling a little bit better and that she would let me know tomorrow morning if she could come over to babysit. In the meantime, Christian had come over a couple of times to watch over the kids.

"Can't she rest here?" Liam asked. "She can sleep in your bed."

I laughed. "And where am I supposed to sleep then?"

He shrugged. "You can sleep in the bed, too. Mommy used to sleep with you in the big bed, too. So why can't Rose?"

I shifted a little, uncomfortable. "That's different," I said after a few moments. "Your mom and I were married."

He frowned a little, but then his face brightened. "You can marry Rose."

I laughed again. "I don't think that's a good idea."

His frown returned. "Why not? Does Rose not want to be with us?"

I sighed. How was I going to explain this to a five-year-old? "Of course she wants to be here, but…not all the time. She _can't_ be here all the time."

"But why?"

"She's got other friends and family. They want to see her, too." Before he could ask another question – and I could see he really wanted to – I continued, "You should get some sleep now, Liam. It's school tomorrow."

He nodded. "Okay."

I leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Good night."

"Night, Daddy," he yawned before rolling onto his side.

Smiling, I flicked off the lights and closed his bedroom door. I walked back downstairs, to where Alisa and Inna were sitting in the living room. They were watching TV.

I let them be for a while, but when it started to get late, I returned to the living room and said, "You should go to bed now. It's a school day tomorrow."

They nodded and got off of the couch.

"How's Rose?" Inna asked.

"She's feeling better, but I don't know when she'll come back," I answered.

After they'd gone to bed, I cleaned up a little bit and then went to my room. I tried to read for a while, but my mind kept wandering off to Rose. That seemed to happen a lot lately, but now that I hadn't seen her in a couple of days, I thought about her even more. It was frustrating.

Sighing, I closed my book and lay down in bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind still on Rose. What was happening to me? Why did I keep thinking about her? I seriously needed to get over this stupid crush on her, because I knew nothing good would come from it.

Still, I couldn't help the happy smile spreading across my face when she showed up on my doorstep two days later.

"You feeling better?" I asked as I stepped away so she could come in.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better, thanks," she said smiling. "Sorry for the inconvenience the last couple of days. I know it must've been hard to find someone to babysit the kids while you-"

"It's fine," I interrupted gently. "It's not your fault. You were ill. I'm just glad you're feeling better now."

Her smile widened. "Thanks, comrade. So, shall I take Liam to school or-"

"Well, actually, I'm afraid you came for nothing," I said. "I took the day off. I wasn't sure if you'd be back today so… I'm sorry if you came all the way down here for that."

"No, it's fine," she said quickly.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my mind. "Have you had breakfast yet?" She shook her head. "Well, if you want to, we can drop off the kids together and then grab some coffee somewhere?"

_Please say yes. Please say yes. Please…_

"Yeah sure," she said grinning. "I'd like that."

I smiled, relieved. "Okay. I'll go get the kids. They'll be happy to see you."

Just like I told Rose, they were all very happy to see her. They attacked her with hugs, exclaiming how much they'd missed her. I watched the scene with a smile on my face.

At last, I broke the group up. "Guys, we got to go now. I don't want you to be late for school."

Inna was very happy she didn't have to take the bus today and almost ran to the car. After dropping her and Alisa off at school, I drove to Liam's school.

"Will you walk me to the gate?" Liam asked, looking at Rose.

"Sure," she said, already getting out of the car.

Then he looked at me. "You too, Daddy."

"Okay."

I got out too and opened the car door for Liam. He took my hand and dragged me to where Rose was standing. He slid his free hand into hers and then the three of us walked to the gate. Liam was grinning the whole time and he didn't complain once when I said he should go inside now.

"Can we do this again?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

He waved at Rose and then me. "You two bringing me to school. I like it," he said smiling. "It's like a family trip, like that one time we went to the swimming pool."

"Oh," I said, not really knowing what to say. I glanced at Rose briefly before turning back to Liam. "I don't know. Maybe." He started frowning and I quickly added, "We'll try to do it again, but I'm not sure if we can do it soon. I mean, I have to work so usually I can't..." He looked down and I felt bad for disappointing my son. "Okay," I agreed. "I'll make sure we can do this again sometime." I glanced over at Rose. "At least, if Rose wants to."

"Sure," she said.

Liam looked up and a smile lit his face again. "Yay!"

I smiled. "Now go inside."

He nodded and hugged me and Rose before running off.

I turned to Rose. "Shall we go?"

She nodded and we walked back to the car in silence. I drove down to a small café where I knew they had great chocolate donuts – which Rose loved.

"You don't want one?" she asked as she munched on her donut.

I shook my head, smiling. "I already ate."

She shrugged and then took another bite of her donut. "They really are delicious."

"I know. That's why I brought you here," I said grinning.

She smiled. "You're too sweet, comrade."

I blushed at the compliment and quickly looked away so she wouldn't notice. Taking a sip of my coffee, I groped for something to say.

"Are you going home for Christmas?" I asked. Christmas was only two weeks away. I'd made sure I was free during winter break so I could spend time with my kids.

Rose considered. "I don't know," she said after a few moments. "I don't think so. My mom probably won't be there so there's no point in going back."

I frowned. "But it's Christmas. Doesn't she want to see you on-"

She quickly shook her head. "The only thing she wants to know from me is if I'm doing well at school. The rest is…" She shrugged. "Well, she doesn't care about the rest. And, I don't know, I don't want to take her away from her boyfriend."

"But you are her daughter," I said, still frowning.

Rose looked down. "Yeah well…"

I felt bad for her. What kind of mother didn't want to know how her daughter was doing? Nobody should spend Christmas alone – which she probably would because all the students would go home. Christian would go home, too.

"Why don't you spend Christmas with us?" I suggested. "The kids would love it if you'd come."

She looked up at me, her eyes wide. "Oh no. I don't want to disturb you and your family-"

"You won't," I interrupted gently. I smiled and put my hand on hers. "It's not a problem."

"I don't know," she said hesitantly.

"I don't want you to be alone during Christmas. Come spend it with me and the kids. It'll be great." She bit her lip, still hesitant. "Please?"

Slowly, a smile spread across her face. "Alright," she said. "If it's okay with you-"

"Of course it is," I said smiling, squeezing her hand gently. "You're practically family anyway."

Her smile widened. "That's really nice of you to say, Dimitri."

"It's true," I said earnestly. "I don't know what I would've done these past couple of months without you, Rose. Thank you for everything you've done for my family – well, what you are still doing for my family."

She laughed. "I think you're giving me too much credit now."

"No," I said smiling. "It's true. Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said softly.

I realized then that I was still holding her hand – and that she was letting me. I didn't know what to think about that. Maybe she was too polite to say something or maybe…maybe she liked it. Could that be true? Could it be she felt the same way?

I looked back up at her and noticed that she was looking down at our hands, too. Then she caught me looking and quickly looked away, blushing. I opened my mouth to say something, but then the waitress came by and asked if we wanted a refill. Rose pulled her hand from under mine, still not looking at me.

Half an hour later we left because Rose had a class and she needed to get back to her dorm to get her books. I drove her to campus and walked her to her door.

"Thanks for breakfast," she said smiling. "You sure you don't want me to pay-"

"No, it's my treat," I said, smiling back.

To my surprise, she stepped forward and hugged me. I remember when I'd met her, she'd hugged me too after I'd hired her – that's how happy she'd been. I'd been too stunned to do something then and I'd barely known her, but now I was more than happy to wrap my arms around her.

"Thank you," she murmured, pulling away. She smiled at me again and then turned around and went inside the building.

I sighed happily and started walking back to the car with a huge grin on my face that stayed there the rest of the day.

* * *

**Aww, wasn't that cute? They're getting closer and closer. Who'd like Rose and Dimitri to share a kiss next chapter? ;)**

**Have a nice weekend! :) **


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you so much for all the reviews! Here's an early update for you guys. I think you deserve it ;) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 13**

**RPOV**

I walked off to the spot Christian and I'd meet before he'd leave for the holidays. When I arrived, I saw he was already there. And he wasn't alone.

I smiled to myself as I saw him hugging Lissa. They pulled away after a few moments and then he leaned in to kiss her. They'd been dating for a couple of weeks now and things were going well for them. Christian had been whining to me the last couple of days that he didn't want to go home to his parents because then he'd miss Lissa too much. I guess they were saying their goodbyes now.

I slowed down to give them some time, but after a few minutes, I felt like I had to break them apart before things got out of hand.

"Hey! This is a public place," I called out.

Christian pulled away from Lissa to look at me and grinned. "Hey Rose."

Lissa smiled at me and then turned back to Christian. "I should go now. I'll see you after winter break, okay?" She pecked his lips and then said to me, "Happy holidays, Rose."

I smiled. "You too."

Christian stared after Lissa as she walked away and let out a wistful sigh.

I playfully punched his arm. "Come on, it's only for a few weeks. It'll go by in no time."

"I hope so," he murmured sadly.

"Don't mope, Christian," I groaned. "You can still call her every day."

He smiled a little. "Yeah, that's true."

"See? It'll all be alright."

Christian looked at me. "What about you? Are you sure you want to stay on campus?"

"Uh yeah. I'm not going to spend the holidays with my mom," I said. "She wouldn't want to have me home anyway. I don't even know if she will be home at all – since she's always traveling with her boyfriend."

"But it's Christmas. You can't stay here all on your own then," he said frowning.

"I don't mind," I said shrugging. I hadn't told him I was going to Dimitri's. I don't know why, though. Maybe it was because he'd ask questions I couldn't answer – or better, I didn't _want_ to answer. "It'll be nice to have the room all to myself."

"I guess it's one good thing that Avery won't be there, yeah," he admitted. He still looked a little doubtful, though. "Why don't you come with me? My parents won't mind."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea. I don't want to disturb you and your family," I said. "Thanks for the offer, though."

He sighed. "Well, if you change your mind… Just call me and I'll come and get you."

I laughed. "That's sweet of you, Chris, but I'm not going to let you drive all the way back here just for me."

"But-"

"I'll be fine, Christian," I assured him, smiling.

"Alright then." He glanced down at his watch and let out another sigh. "I should leave. Merry Christmas, Rose," he said, hugging me.

I hugged him back. "Merry Christmas, Christian."

He smiled and let go of me. I watched him walk to the parking lot. With a sigh, I turned around and walked back to my room. Avery had already left, which I was glad for. I spent the rest of the day in my room, watching TV, and the following day was much of the same.

When evening came, I got up to get ready for the Christmas dinner at Dimitri's house. I was feeling a little nervous about it, to be honest. I'd grown close to Dimitri and his family in the few months I'd been there to babysit – maybe a little too close. I'd gotten so comfortable with it all, spending time with the kids and with Dimitri… They treated me as if I was a part of their family and I liked it. I loved them all dearly, but the person that meant the most to me was Dimitri – which was a problem.

I'd never meant to fall for Dimitri. But it happened and there was nothing I could do about it now. I'd told myself over and over again that I shouldn't like him, but every time I saw him my heart skipped a beat. It didn't help matters that he was always so kind and sweet.

Sometimes I thought he liked me too. The way he looked at me sometimes, the way he'd cared for me when I'd been sick… I could be imagining it – and I probably was – but it made me feel special that he worried over me, that I was important enough to him to worry over.

Or it could just be for the sake of his kids. Maybe he was always inviting me to family stuff because the kids liked me having around. Maybe he was just doing it for them. I think it was the latter.

When I finished getting dressed – I'd chosen to wear a knee-length red dress with a sweetheart neckline – I put on a little bit of makeup and did my hair into a simple but elegant bun.

When I looked into the mirror to examine myself, I had to admit I looked pretty. Suddenly, I wondered what Dimitri would think. _Does it matter? You're not dressing up for him,_ I chastised myself. _You're doing it for yourself._

I let out a sigh, put on my coat and retrieved the bag of gifts from under my bed. I'd bought the gifts about a week ago. I'd figured that if I was going to spend Christmas with Dimitri and his kids, I'd better buy them something nice as a thank you for letting me come over and, well, because it was Christmas.

When I arrived at Dimitri's place twenty minutes later, I took a deep, calming breath before ringing the doorbell. I silently counted the seconds in my head until the door opened and Dimitri appeared, smiling.

"Hey," I said, offering him a smile of my own.

"Hey Roza," he said. He stepped aside and I entered. "The kids were already starting to wonder if you'd show up."

"Sorry," I said, looking at him apologetically. "I didn't realize I was late."

"You aren't. They're just impatient," he said, the smile still on his face. I shrugged off my coat and he took it from me. "You look beautiful."

I blushed. "Thank you."

I then took in what he was wearing. It wasn't anything fancy, but he still looked very gorgeous in his dark jeans and white button-down shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.

"You don't look so bad yourself," I teased, showing some of my Rose Hathaway bravado.

Dimitri grinned. "Thanks."

I held up my bag. "I brought presents."

"Oh, you shouldn't have," he said.

"Yes, it's Christmas!" I protested.

"Well, the kids will be ecstatic. They've been driving me crazy all day, begging me if they could open their presents."

I grinned. "I used to be like that too when I was a kid."

"Why does that not surprise me?" he said in a teasing voice.

I nudged him. "Don't tell me you weren't impatient to open your presents when you were a kid. That would be the biggest lie ever."

"I've always been patient," he said grinning. "Well, most of the time."

"Dad!" called a voice from the living room. It was Liam. "What's taking you so long?"

"Coming!" Dimitri called back. He smiled at me and, taking my free hand, he led me into the living room. "Look who's finally arrived," he said when we entered.

"Rose!" Liam exclaimed, jumping up to hug me.

"Hey, Liam! How are you doing?" I asked, ruffling his hair. I looked up and smiled at Inna and Alisa. "Merry Christmas, guys."

"What's in the bag?" Alisa asked curiously.

I grinned. "Santa dropped something off for you guys at my place…"

She started grinning too. "Presents?!"

"Of course!"

"Can we open them now?" Liam asked eagerly.

I was about to answer, but Dimitri cut me off before I could. "No, first dinner," he said. "Afterwards, you can open your presents."

Liam pouted, but didn't protest. Alisa started tugging me to the kitchen, telling me how she'd helped her father make dinner. Inna quickly joined the conversation, saying she'd been helping too.

And I had to admit that it all looked a lot more delicious than what I had planned to eat if I'd been on my own. The steak tasted divine and the croquettes were pretty amazing, too. The vegetables were…well, it were vegetables. I'd never been a big fan of them.

Dessert was even better than the main course: chocolate mousse. I actually moaned when I tasted it, which made the kids giggle like crazy.

"Are you coming with us tomorrow, Rose?" Inna asked, licking her spoon clean.

I frowned. Tomorrow? "Where to?"

"We're going to visit grandmother for Christmas," Alisa said smiling. "There'll be more delicious food there and lots of desserts. She always has lots of desserts!"

I smiled. "Well, aren't you lucky with a grandmother like that!"

"So, are you coming tomorrow?" Inna asked again.

I glanced at Dimitri briefly. "I don't know, Inna. I'm not family so I don't think-"

"My mother won't mind if you come," Dimitri interrupted gently. He smiled. "In fact, she'd love it if you'd come. And it's not just family that's coming. Ivan's coming too."

"Oh. Well…" I said awkwardly. "Are you sure? I don't want to disturb…"

"Please Rose! Please come with us!" Liam said excitedly.

"It's fine, Rose. Really," Dimitri said, still smiling. "We'd all be very happy if you'd join us."

I had to admit it sounded better than sitting alone in my room all day. Anything sounded better than that, really.

"Okay," I said at last. "I'll come."

The kids cheered and Dimitri grinned.

"Great. But we'll have to leave early in the morning," he added. "It's a long drive."

"That's fine," I said.

"Can we open our presents now?" Liam asked impatiently. "Everyone's done eating."

"Alright," Dimitri said.

After clearing the table, we all went to sit around the big Christmas tree – which was decorated very beautifully. I watched the kids unpack their presents with a smile. They were all so eager and happy.

"I also got something for you," I said to Dimitri. He glanced away from his kids, a surprised look on his face. I took the gift out of my purse and handed it to him. "Something to add to your western collection."

Dimitri smiled as he unwrapped the gift. "Thank you, Roza," he said as he looked at the book's cover.

"I hope you don't have it already," I said quickly, suddenly a little shy.

His smile widened. "No, it's perfect. Thank you."

Suddenly, he got up and left the room. I wondered where he was going. The kids hadn't noticed a thing; they were still busy with all the presents they'd gotten. Liam was currently building some kind of fort with his new Lego's and Alisa was playing with her doll while Inna stared in awe at her new ballet shoes.

I glanced away from them when Dimitri entered. He sat back down beside me on the couch and I noticed he was holding a small, velvet box in his hand.

"This is for you," he said, handing it to me.

I gasped as I opened the box. Inside, there was a silver rose necklace. Normally, I didn't like rose stuff, but this…this was absolutely gorgeous.

"Wow, Dimitri…" I said, not knowing what else to say. I looked up at him. "This is too much. You shouldn't have-"

"I wanted to," he interrupted gently, giving me a small smile.

I smiled back. "Thank you. It's really beautiful."

"You want me to put it on for you?" he asked.

I nodded, giving him the necklace. I turned around in my seat and held my breath, my heart hammering in my chest, as he leaned closer and put the necklace around me. I closed my eyes when his warm hands rested on my shoulders briefly. He pulled away and I opened my eyes, turning back around to face him.

Dimitri smiled. "Perfect."

I blushed and looked down at the necklace. "Thank you."

The kids wanted to play a game so that's what we did for the rest of the night. We played all kinds of games the kids came up with. It was fun. I don't think I've ever laughed so much as tonight. When Liam started yawning, Dimitri glanced at the clock.

"I think it's time for you guys to go to bed," he said, getting up from the couch.

"But Dad," Inna said in a whiny voice. "It's Christmas."

"It's already past your bedtime," Dimitri said. "And we have to get up early in the morning."

They only protested a little bit before getting up reluctantly. I kissed them all good night and promised them again I'd come with them tomorrow before they went upstairs.

"I'll be right back," Dimitri said to me as he followed them.

I let out a sigh and sat back down on the couch. With a smile, I looked at my necklace. I couldn't believe Dimitri had bought me something so expensive. I kind of felt bad I hadn't bought him something more expensive. The book I'd bought him was cheap compared to this. I knew he wouldn't have wanted me to buy something expensive for him, though.

I snapped out of my reverie when I heard the door open and close again. I stood and looked at Dimitri. He looked back, but didn't say anything.

"I guess I should go home," I said at last, clearing my throat.

Dimitri nodded and glanced away. I reached for my purse and was about to walk to the hallway when he said, "Unless…"

I turned around, giving him a questioning look. To my surprise, he looked a little nervous.

"Would you like to watch a movie or something?" he asked.

"Umm…" I glanced down at my watch. It was just past ten. I guess I could stay a little longer and watch a movie with Dimitri. Looking up at him, I smiled. "Sure."

He smiled, too. "Okay. How about you choose the movie while I get some more drinks?"

I nodded and watched him walk to the kitchen. As I heard him open the fridge, I rummaged through his DVD collection. There was so much and, to be honest, the last thing I was thinking about was which DVD I wanted to watch. All I could think about was that I was here with Dimitri, all alone, without anyone to interrupt.

At last, I just picked a movie at random. It's not like I was going to pay attention anyway. I mean, I _couldn't_. Not with Dimitri sitting so close next to me. I barely dared to breathe and I kept glancing at him from the corner of my eye. One time, he noticed me looking at him – which made me blush in embarrassment. I quickly glanced back at the TV, but not before seeing a smile creep onto his face.

"Thank you for coming over tonight," Dimitri said when the movie had finished. We were in the hallway and he helped me into my coat. "You still want to join us tomorrow?"

"Sure. If it's not a problem."

"The kids would love it if you'd come with us." His hand brushed against mine as he let go of my coat. "I'd love it too," he added softly. I stared at him, unable to respond. Clearing his throat, he said, "You know, you could stay here tonight if you want to. You shouldn't walk home alone at this time of night. You could sleep in my room and I'll sleep on the couch."

I smiled. "That's really kind of you, Dimitri, but I'll be fine."

He frowned a little. "You know I hate it when you have to walk back home all alone in the dark – and it's my fault. I asked you to stay."

I shrugged. "It's okay. I wanted to stay."

"It's a wonder you haven't gotten tired of us yet," he joked.

I grinned. "I could never get tired of you guys," I teased.

His gaze softened. "Oh, Roza," he sighed, tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. "You're too good to be true."

I felt butterflies in my stomach as I looked at him. Blushing, I glanced away. A few moments passed, neither of us speaking. At last, I looked back up at him and said softly, "Thank you for convincing me to come over. I had a great time." He smiled that beautiful smile of his and before I could stop myself I leaned in and kissed his cheek, murmuring, "Good night, Dimitri."

I wanted to step back, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to a stop.

"Roza, wait," he said, his voice soft.

I glanced up at him in surprise. I was even more surprised when he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. I was too shocked to do something – like kiss him back.

Before I could respond to the kiss, he pulled away and gazed at me. I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't. I was rendered speechless. _Did he really just kiss me?_

Hesitantly, I looked up at him. Our eyes met and then Dimitri leaned in again and kissed me softly. This time, I kissed him back. He cupped my cheek while his other hand rested on the small of my back and pulled me closer.

I wrapped my arms around his neck as we continued to kiss. His lips were soft and gentle against mine. His tongue slid against my bottom lip and I opened my mouth, granting him entrance. He pulled me even closer to him as his tongue explored my mouth. His arms wrapped around my waist tightly and I tangled my fingers in his hair.

At last, we pulled away from each other, gasping for air. Dimitri rested his forehead against mine and smiled. I felt myself smiling back automatically.

"I should really go now," I said at last, my voice a little hoarse.

He nodded and pressed another soft kiss against my lips and then, slowly, almost reluctantly, pulled away.

"Good night, Roza," he whispered.

Unable to say something, I turned around and walked out of the door, the smile never leaving my face as I walked home.

* * *

**Aww, they finally kissed! What do you think is going to happen now? Will they talk about it or pretend like nothing happened? I hope you liked this chapter :)**

**And... Happy Easter! ^^**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you so much for all the reviews! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 14**

**RPOV**

I was a little nervous when Dimitri came to pick me up the next morning. I hadn't slept much because I'd kept replaying what had happened between Dimitri and me in my head. I'd never expected him to kiss me, but he had. I wondered if that meant he felt the same way about me. It had to be, right? Why else would he have kissed me?

When I got Dimitri's text that he was waiting outside for me, I quickly put on my coat and hurried down the stairs. Before I opened the door, I took a deep breath to try and calm myself down. I didn't want him to notice I was nervous about seeing him.

The kids were all very happy to see me and I returned their excited grins. I went out of my way not to look at Dimitri as I sat down in the passenger seat, but I couldn't help myself from glancing at him briefly. Our eyes met and he gave me a small smile. I smiled back and then quickly looked away so he wouldn't notice the blush creeping onto my face.

We barely talked to each other during the drive to his family. And it's not like we could talk about what had happened last night with the kids within earshot. Though I doubted they would've heard, with all the noise they were making in the backseat.

When we finally arrived, the kids jumped out of the car and practically ran to the front door. They were really busy today.

"Be careful!" Dimitri called after them. It had snowed again and there were ice patches on the path to the front door.

I glanced at the house and then back at the car, suddenly wondering if it had been a good idea after all to come with them today. What if Dimitri had thought wrong and his family didn't want me here?

"Don't worry, Roza. They'll be happy to see you again," Dimitri said suddenly.

I looked at him in surprise. It was like he could read my mind sometimes. He smiled at me and started walking to the door. I followed him and he slowed down a little so we were walking next to each other. Our hands brushed against each other and from the corner of my eye, I saw that Dimitri was smiling.

Much to my relief, I was welcomed with open arms.

"Oh, Rose! It's so good to see you again," Olena said, taking me in an embrace. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. How are you?" I said politely.

The rest of the family was gathered in the living room. They all greeted me enthusiastically, hugging me just like Olena had. Just like Dimitri had said last night, Ivan was also present.

"I didn't know you'd bring Rose, Dimitri," he said grinning, winking at me. "What a pleasant surprise!"

Dimitri glared at him and muttered something in Russian. Ivan shook his head, laughing. I looked at them, wondering what Dimitri had said.

I was sat next to Ivan and Viktoria during dinner. Dimitri sat across from me and it was hard not to look at him the whole time. There were a lot of Russian dishes I'd never heard of or eaten before. I knew about some, like blini, because of Dimitri and the kids. I also recognized the black bread on the table, but that was about it. I tried a little bit of everything and I had to admit it was all pretty good. Olena was a great cook.

"Jeez, Rose, how can you eat so much and stay so thin?" Viktoria asked, gaping at me. I flushed a little. Had I been a little bit too obvious? Should I not have taken seconds? "You got to share your secret now."

"I just go running once in a while," I said shrugging. "That's all I do, really."

"Wow, I'm totally jealous!" Viktoria said, but her voice was teasing. "I'd have to work out _a lot_ if I ate like you do."

"Good genes, I guess," I said, smiling reluctantly.

"I don't think that's the only good genes you got," Ivan said smirking. I knew he was just teasing, but I still blushed. "Ouch!" Ivan suddenly groaned as he rubbed his shin.

"What's up with you?" I asked frowning.

"Nothing," he said, forcing a smile. He glanced at Dimitri and then back at me. "I, umm, just hit my leg against the table."

I looked from him to Dimitri, who was glaring at Ivan. Nothing, huh? There sure was something going on here. They just didn't want to let me in on it.

I helped Olena clear the table and we made small talk as we did the dishes in the kitchen. She was such a kind person. There was no doubt where Dimitri had learned his good manners.

"So, how's the babysitting going?" Olena asked smiling. "You not tired of it yet?"

"Oh no. Dimitri's kids are amazing. So is he," I said. "I like spending time with them."

"I'm glad to hear that," she said, her smile widening. "Dimitri definitely likes having you around, too."

"Really?" I asked, a little surprised. "Did he…did he tell you that?"

"No," she said, "but I have eyes."

She looked at me knowingly before turning around and leaving the kitchen. I stood there for a few moments, dumbfounded. Just when I was about to leave, Dimitri walked in.

"Hey," he said softly, giving me a small smile.

"Hey," I murmured, returning his smile.

We were quiet for a few moments. In the background I heard his family laughing and talking. Dimitri glanced behind him and then closed the door, shutting out the noise.

"I was wondering…" he started hesitantly, taking a step closer to me. "Can we talk? About last night?"

_Oh no. Here it comes._ He was going to tell me it had been a mistake and that he wanted to forget about it. Yes, the look on his face said it all. He was definitely regretting our kiss.

"I-"

"It's okay," I cut him off. I didn't want to hear it. I was sure that if he'd say it out loud, I wouldn't be able to hold back the tears that were stinging my eyes right now. "I understand. What happened last night was a mistake. " Dimitri frowned and started to say something, but I interrupted him again. Forcing a smile, I said, "Don't worry. It won't happen again."

And before he could utter another word, I stormed out of the kitchen.

**DPOV**

I stared after Rose, confused. What the hell did just happen? We were fine just two minutes ago and now she'd stormed off, clearly upset. Why? And why had she said those things? Did she think it was a mistake? Or did she think _I _thought it was a mistake? Is that why she reacted like that?

Shaking my head, I returned to the living room and saw Rose sitting beside Ivan. She looked sad. When she noticed me, she forced a smile and started talking to Ivan. _Great._

I watched them for a while, but when Ivan threw his arm over her shoulder, leaning in close, I knew I needed to do something. They were laughing over some stupid joke Ivan had told and didn't even notice me at me first.

Finally, Ivan looked up. "Hey, Dimka. What's up?" he said grinning.

I could only glare at him.

"Excuse me, I need some fresh air," Rose said, clearing her throat, and she got up.

"What?" Ivan said when she'd left.

"Will you stop flirting with Rose!" I hissed.

"She seemed a little down. I just wanted to cheer her up," he said, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace. "Don't be mad, man. I wasn't moving in on her. I know she's yours."

I sighed. "But she isn't," I murmured wistfully, glancing behind me.

"Are you okay? Did something happen?" Ivan asked with a frown.

I shrugged and then figured I could tell him what had happened last night and just now in the kitchen. He was my best friend after all.

"Dude, I can't believe you kissed her," Ivan said grinning when I'd finished.

"Don't talk so loud," I said in a chastising voice. I didn't want anyone to overhear us.

"Sorry," he mumbled. Then he brightened. "You should go talk to her. Explain that it isn't what she's thinking. Tell her how you really feel about her."

"I don't think she wants to talk to me right now," I muttered.

"Well, you've got to talk to her at some point. Better now than later," he said wisely.

"I guess you're right," I admitted. Taking a deep breath, I nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go find her."

Ivan grinned again. "Good luck."

Rose was outside, sitting on the porch. She looked up when she heard the door close and her eyes widened slightly when she saw me. Then she quickly looked away from me.

"Rose, I think you misunderstood me earlier," I started as I sat down next to her.

She didn't look at me.

"I wasn't going to say that what happened between us last night was a mistake," I continued when she didn't say anything.

Rose stiffened next to me and, slowly, she looked up at me. "You don't think it was a mistake?" she asked hesitantly.

I smiled. "No. To be honest, I'd been wanting to kiss you for a very long time."

Her breath caught in her throat. "Really?"

I nodded. "I didn't, though, because, well… you're eight years younger than me and you're babysitting my kids. I'm… I'm not right for you. It's what I've been telling myself for weeks now. But, last night, I just…" I sighed and looked into her beautiful brown eyes. "I couldn't help myself."

I reached out and took her hand in mine. She looked down at our intertwined hands and then back up at me.

"I don't regret it," I said softly. "The only thing I regret is that I didn't kiss you sooner."

Rose swallowed heavily. "Why would you want to kiss me?"

Well, wasn't that obvious?

I smiled nervously. "Because I'm crazy about you."

She let out a small gasp. I waited for her to say something, but she just stared at me, shocked. Damn. Not what I had been hoping for.

"I'm sorry," I said sheepishly. "I probably shouldn't have said that. It's just-"

My words were cut off when Rose suddenly leaned in and pressed her lips against mine. I responded to the kiss immediately and drew her closer. Her arms wrapped around my neck as our lips continued to move in sync. I pulled her even closer to me until she was practically sitting in my lap.

We pulled away at the same time and as we gazed at each other, Rose whispered, "I feel the same way about you."

"You do?" I asked, a little surprised. After all, what had I to offer to a gorgeous, young woman like her? She had her whole life ahead of her. I would only be a complication.

"Yes," she admitted, looking down at her hands in her lap. She shifted, moving away from me slightly. "I was never going to tell you that, though, because, well…" She shrugged. "I didn't think I'd have a chance with you. I mean, I'm just a stupid and naive school girl."

"That's not true," I said fiercely. "You know that's not true. You're the most amazing woman I've ever met in my life." A smile broke out on her face, a smile that melted my heart. "I really want to be with you, Roza," I continued, my voice soft, "and if the situation was different, if I didn't have kids, if you were older or if I were younger, I would have asked you out the moment I met you – without hesitation." I paused, glancing away briefly. "But like I said earlier… I'm not good for you. You're still so young and there's so much you could do in your life. I would only hold you back."

Rose swallowed. "So what you're trying to say is…you don't want to be with me? Or, well – you _can't_. Because of your kids. Because of the age gap."

"The age gap isn't so bad, I guess," I admitted. "It's not like you're a minor or anything. But it's still eight years. And the kids… Well, yes, I have a lot of responsibilities. I can't just walk away from all that."

"I understand that," she said. "Did you think I was expecting you to just drop everyone and everything for me?"

"No, no. Of course not," I said gently. "But if you and I would be together… Well, it would be a lot less complicated for you if you dated someone your age. You'd be free to go wherever you wanted, whenever you wanted. With me, you'd be stuck here. And I don't want that for you…"

"Have you ever considered what I want?" she asked.

Slowly, I shook my head. "What do you want?" I whispered, looking at her.

_Please say it's me you want. Please say you want to be with me._ I know it was selfish, but I couldn't help it. I was so in love with her and I wanted to be with her badly. She'd admitted her feelings for me, but that didn't mean she wanted to be with me – because that meant she was stuck with three children, too.

Rose smiled and her hand found mine. She laced our fingers together and said, "I thought I'd already made that clear."

I swallowed heavily as I looked down at our hands. "Roza…"

"I know what you're going to say, Dimitri," she cut me off. "You're afraid that I won't want to stay with you because of your kids. I'll admit, it's a lot of responsibilities, having children and taking care of them, but you forget… I love those kids to death! And I am already taking care of them when you're not there."

Well, that was true. And I had to admit she was actually doing a great job at taking care of them. I trusted her completely with my kids. I knew they were safe with her.

"You're also worried you'd hold me back from the things I want in my life," she continued, "but that's not true. I want you, Dimitri. I don't mind that you already got kids. I don't mind that we can't go wherever we want, whenever we want to. I'm happy with my life how it is and I want you in it. You and the kids," she concluded, her voice fierce.

I stared at her in wonder. God, she was just so amazing.

"You just told me you want to be with me."

"Yes," I murmured.

"I want to be with you, too. Then can't we at least try?"

I sighed and looked at her. I wanted to be with her and she wanted it too. But what if it didn't work out? I didn't want to lose her. She meant so much to me. She'd been a good friend to me in the past couple of months. I could always count on her. And if it didn't work out, what would happen then?

_But what if it does work out?_ I thought. _Then you get to be with the woman you love every day. Something you'd never expected to happen in your life._

It would break my heart if it didn't work out between us, but I decided it was worth the risk.

"Yes," I said at last. "Yes, I want to try." I squeezed her hand gently and smiled. "I want to be with you."

Rose smiled back. I leaned in and kissed her softly. I was reluctant to pull away from her, but I knew I had to. I didn't want anyone to catch us like this – which would definitely happen if we stayed here.

"We should probably go back inside," I said. "Before everyone starts to wonder where we are."

She nodded, still smiling, and got up. I got up, too, and followed her to the door. Before she went inside, I grabbed her hand and turned her around.

"Can we talk some more later?" I asked. "About us?"

"Of course," Rose said.

I smiled and sneaked another kiss before going back inside.

What can I say? She was just irresistible.

* * *

**There you go. They admitted their feelings for each other and want to be with each other so they're going to try and make it work! How about that? ;) **

**Next chapter there will be more Rose & Dimitri moments and they will talk some more. I hope you liked the chapter. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. Hope you have a nice day/evening! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, follows and favorites! :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 15**

**DPOV**

The kids were reluctant to go home that day. They wanted to spend the night at their grandmother's house. I would've let them stay if I'd known this on beforehand. But now they didn't have their pajamas, toothbrush and fresh clothes for tomorrow.

On the other hand, if they stayed here, I would be able to spend more time with Rose and then we could talk. In the end, I decided I'd come back with the kids tomorrow, along with their stuff, so they could stay for a couple of days with their grandmother. I dreaded the long drive, but I figured we could stop on the way and go to the mall because Liam had outgrown almost all of his clothes and Inna could use some new jeans too. When they heard we were going shopping tomorrow, they were all ecstatic.

"Are you coming tomorrow too, Rose?" Alisa asked once we were in the car, driving home.

I chuckled. "I don't think Rose wants to sit another four hours in this car, Alisa."

"But it's a daytrip," Inna argued. "We're going to the mall, right?"

I guess it was sort of a daytrip. But still.

"Yeah, maybe Rose needs some clothes too," Liam piped in.

I glanced at Rose. "You up for it?" I asked.

"Well, actually," Rose said, grinning at me. "I wouldn't mind to go shopping."

The children cheered and I smiled. The rest of the ride home was quiet. The kids were tired after today's events and when I dropped Rose off at campus, Liam and Alisa were asleep. Inna looked on the verge of falling asleep, too.

I looked at Rose. "I hope you had fun today. I know my family can be a little…loud."

"They're amazing," Rose said smiling. "Just like you."

It took all of me not to lean over and kiss her senseless. I had to remind myself that my kids were in the backseat. They might be asleep, but it would just be my luck if they'd wake up just when I was kissing Rose.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" I said.

Rose nodded and then glanced behind her. Biting her lower lip, she glanced back at me. She hesitated, but then leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

"See you tomorrow," she whispered.

I stared after her, a dazed smile on my face, as she walked to her dorm. My thoughts were still with her when I drove home. Liam and Alisa were still half asleep when we arrived and I had to carry them inside. Inna followed and immediately went to bed.

After I'd put Liam and Alisa to bed, I checked on Inna to see if she was actually in bed. She was, and she was already fast asleep. I smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead before leaving her room. I went to take a shower and when I returned to my bedroom, I heard my phone buzzing. I retrieved it from my bed and looked at the screen. It was Ivan.

"Hey, what's up?" I said.

"Hey," he replied. "I wanted to know how things went down with Rose. We didn't have a chance to talk earlier. So, did you tell her?"

"I told her, yes," I said, a grin spreading across my face as I thought back to this afternoon.

"And?" Ivan pressed.

My grin widened. "She said she felt the same way."

"I knew it! I knew she was hot for you!" Ivan exclaimed. "So…did you make out with her?"

"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."

"So you did make out with her!" he said. "So, how was she? I bet she's a fabulous kisser. She sure looks like it. When are you guys going to hook up?"

I rolled my eyes, not dignifying that with a response. "We still have to talk about some things, though."

"What do you have to talk about?" he asked. "I thought you already said everything."

"Yes," I said, "but…well, I've got three kids, Ivan. Most girls her age would stay the hell away from guys like me."

"Yeah, but you told me she is pretty mature for her age," Ivan said, for once serious. "And she adores your kids. So, really, I don't see what the problem is."

"Yeah," I said shrugging. "We'll see how it works out." I hoped to God it would work out. "She's going shopping with us tomorrow. I guess we'll talk then."

"Ugh, shopping," Ivan muttered. "Rather you than me."

"Yeah, well, the kids need clothes," I said with a shrug. I just realized it might be good that Rose was coming along. She probably knew a lot more about clothes than me. Tasha used to go shopping with the kids. I came along a few times, but it's not like I picked out their clothes. "Where are you?" I asked, changing the subject. "Are you home yet?"

He'd left my mother's house just before us. He should be home by now. Unless he'd gone somewhere else.

"I'm going over to some friends," he said and I could almost hear him grinning.

"You mean _girlfriends_?"

"I don't have girlfriends. I do, however, have friends who happen to be girls," he said. "It's not the same thing."

"Uh-huh. Well, I'll leave you to it then."

"Talk to you later," he said before disconnecting.

With a sigh, I put my phone on my nightstand and crawled into bed. I thought of Rose again, wondering when I'd be able to kiss her again. I smiled and let out a contented sigh. After a while, I drifted off to sleep, dreaming about my Roza.

The next morning I had to get up early again to pack my kids' bags. They were running around the house, excited to go to the mall, and I had to practically drag them to the kitchen so they'd eat their breakfast. When I was sure they'd stay seated, I went back upstairs to finish packing their bags. When they were done, they came upstairs to get ready.

An hour later, we went to pick up Rose. I'd texted her on beforehand so she knew we were coming and she was already waiting outside when we arrived.

"Hey guys," she said cheerfully when she got inside the car.

The kids greeted her enthusiastically, all happy she was here. They were loud during the ride to the mall and I wondered if I would get through this day without an aspirin. I don't think they'd ever been this loud before.

Thankfully, they calmed down a little when we arrived at the mall. Inna immediately started dragging me towards a shop she used to go to with her mom. Rose took Liam and Alisa by the hand and followed us inside.

Since I knew nothing about fashion, I was happy Rose was around to help me out. It was obvious this wasn't my department.

As we stood in line to pay for Inna's new clothes, my hand accidently touched Rose's. When I looked at her, I saw that she was smiling at me. My heart lifted and I smiled back at her, wishing I could hold her in my arms.

When the kids started to get hungry, we went to the food court to have lunch and afterwards, we continued our shopping spree. I was relieved when we'd finally found some clothes for Liam, too.

"Hey, would you mind if I go in there for a while?" Rose asked, pointing at a store called Forever 21. I noticed Inna looking at it wistfully. "I kind of need some new jeans, too."

"Uh yeah, sure," I said.

"Can we go too, Daddy?" Inna asked, tugging at my sleeve.

I glanced back at the store. "Fine. We can go, too," I said at last.

She smiled happily and ran after Rose. We followed them around the store. Inna found this skirt she really wanted to try on, but I wasn't too sure about it. I thought it was a little short, but when she started looking at me with her puppy dog eyes, I gave in.

When she came out of the changing room, I had to admit it wasn't as bad as I'd first thought it was. The skirt was knee-length and Rose said it was fine so I figured it was alright if she'd wear it. Inna attacked me with a hug when I told her she could have the skirt.

My eyes almost bugged out of my head when Rose came out in black skinny jeans and a red top that showed off her curves, but that didn't show too much skin at the same time.

"What do you think?" Rose asked grinning as she looked into the mirror.

"Um, you look pretty," I stammered. Yeah, right. Pretty. As if that was the right word to describe how sexy Rose looked right now.

Alisa and Inna looked at her in awe whereas Liam was bored from all the shopping and was playing with his stuffed animal in the corner so he didn't notice a thing.

"One day I want to be just as beautiful like Rose," Alisa murmured when we walked out of the store half an hour later. Rose had purchased the jeans and red top, along with some other things.

"You already are, sweetheart," I responded softly, squeezing her hand as she looked up at me, smiling widely.

Around four o'clock I dropped the kids off at my mother's. They were all eager to show off their new clothes to her and my sister, Viktoria, who was there as well. I felt kind of sad leaving my kids behind, but it was only for a few days.

"Call me if anything's wrong," I said to my mother.

"Of course," she assured me. "You go home now and have some time for yourself." She smiled and then eyed Rose, who was chatting with Vika. "Or spend some time with Rose."

"Yeah, well," I said, avoiding her gaze. "We should be going. See you in a few days, Mama." I kissed her cheek and then kissed my kids on the top of their heads. "Have fun with your grandmother," I told them. "And behave while I'm gone."

"Bye Daddy!"

It was silent as Rose and I walked back to the car.

"Do you want to grab a bite to eat somewhere?" I asked, a little nervous.

"Sure," she responded smiling.

I smiled, relieved. "Do you have any preferences as to where to go?"

"No, not really."

I didn't know anything in the neighborhood so I decided to just head home and see if we passed some good restaurant on the way. At last, I pulled up at a small but seemingly decent restaurant on the highway. As we walked side by side to the entrance, our hands brushed against each other like earlier today.

Taking a deep breath, I took her hand in mine. When she looked up at me in surprise, I feared she'd pull away, but instead she smiled. Feeling more confident, I laced our fingers together and held open the door for her with my free hand.

We slid into a booth in the back corner so we'd have some privacy to talk. After ordering, Rose gave me a small smile and then put her hand on mine.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly. "You've been quiet for a while now."

I looked into her beautiful brown eyes and a smile crept onto my face. "Yes, I'm fine. It's just…" _It's just I'm nervous and afraid you're going to change your mind about me and I'll end up with a broken heart._ I groaned inwardly. Since when had I turned into such a lovesick guy?

"It's just what?" Rose pressed when I didn't continue.

I looked at her, hesitant to tell her. _Ugh, just say what's on your mind, Dimitri,_ I scolded myself.

"I know we already talked about it yesterday, but… Are you sure?" I asked. "Are you sure you want this? I mean, it's not too late to change your mind. I'd understand-"

"Dimitri," she interrupted me gently. I sighed and looked up at her. "I'm sure," she said, her eyes never leaving mine.

"Don't you care that I've been married before? That I already have kids?" I asked frowning.

She shrugged. "I know that I care about _you_," she said. "And I also care about your kids. A lot." She sighed and looked down. "But if you have doubts…"

"No!" I said quickly, taking her hand. She looked up at me, raising her eyebrows. "No, I meant what I said yesterday. I want to be with you."

Rose smiled.

"It's just… I'm thinking about the kids," I said. "I don't know how they'll react to this. To us being together." I was pretty sure Liam would be fine with it since he'd once asked if Rose could move in with us. I figured Alisa would be okay with it, too. But Inna… I wasn't sure about her. She still missed her mother greatly and even though she'd warmed up to Rose, I wasn't sure she'd be too happy about me dating someone that wasn't her mother.

She nodded. "I understand. If they're not okay with it, then we'll stop. I don't want to hurt them."

I looked at her in surprise. She would put aside her own happiness for my kids? I wasn't even sure I could do that. I loved my kids to death, but I loved Rose too. I wanted her in my life. But I guess that if my kids really weren't okay with me being with Rose I would let her go. They were my kids after all and they meant the world to me.

We agreed we wouldn't tell the kids right away. Because if it didn't work out between us, I would have upset them over nothing. We'd keep it quiet for a while and if things were going well, we'd tell them and hope for the best.

Our waiter came just then to bring us our food. As we ate, we made some small talk.

"You want dessert?" I asked, looking at the menu again.

"Ugh, I don't know," she moaned. "I think I ate a little too much pasta."

I chuckled. "So that means no?"

She considered and then shrugged. "Oh, what the hell." Looking at the menu, she said, "I want the chocolate cake. Are you going to take something?"

"I don't think so," I said, putting the menu away.

"Well then, would you mind sharing the chocolate cake with me because I don't think I'll be able to eat all of it."

"Sure," I said smiling.

The waiter brought us the cake a few moments later. He smiled and winked at Rose before walking away. I watched him leave with a frown.

"Hey comrade," Rose said, waving her hand in front of my face. "The cake's here. What are you looking at?"

"Nothing," I muttered, tearing my gaze away from the waiter.

"You want a bite?" she asked grinning, holding out her fork to me.

Momentarily forgetting about the waiter, I nodded and leaned in to have a taste of the chocolate cake. It was rather good. Rose took a bite and moaned.

"Oh my God, this is delicious," she exclaimed, taking another bite.

I smiled as she held out her fork again. I leaned in again, but then she pulled the fork away and brought it to her lips.

"Mmm," she said, laughing when she saw the perplexed look on my face. Then she got up and sat down next to me. "It's easier this way, I think."

"You're going to pull away again?" I asked when she offered her fork to me again.

She shook her head, still smiling. "I promise I won't."

I eyed her carefully. Deciding she looked sincere enough, I leaned in, but this time I wasn't going for the fork. I was going for her lips.

She gasped in surprise when my lips met hers. I heard the clatter of her fork on her plate as she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back with fervor. I had to remind myself that we were in a restaurant and that we could hardly start to make out here so I pulled away from her with great reluctance.

I noticed the waiter standing a couple of feet away from us, a frown on his face as he looked our way. I couldn't help the grin spreading across my face.

"You wanna get out of here?" I asked, looking back at Rose.

She nodded, biting her lower lip.

There was a smile on my face the whole time as I drove us back home. I parked my car in the parking lot at campus, figuring she would want to call it a night. But, suddenly, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine. Before I knew it, we were lying in the backseat of the car, making out – which was not that easy since I was so tall.

"You. Are. Amazing," I breathed as I trailed kisses down her neck, making her moan in pleasure. I stopped at her collarbone and looked up at her with a grin. God, she was breathtaking.

"Why'd you stop?" she asked, breathless, tugging at the collar of my shirt as she tried to pull my mouth back to her neck.

I sat up a little. "I don't want to rush anything," I admitted. "And I don't want our first time to be in the backseat of my car. It should be somewhere romantic."

She smiled. "Aww, you're such a sap," she teased.

I glared at her playfully. "I just think we should take it slow."

Rose sobered up. "Yeah, you're probably right." Then she grinned again. "But that doesn't mean we can't make out, right?"

I grinned too. "Right."

I leaned in closer and captured her lips with mine in a long, passionate kiss. When I'd dreamt about kissing her, I'd already thought it was amazing, but kissing her in real life… It was ten times more amazing.

"Would it be okay if I'd take you out on a date sometime?" I asked when I pulled away from her.

"Wasn't this a date?" she asked with a smile.

I shook my head. "My kids were with us all day."

"Yeah, but we were alone for dinner," she argued.

"You think eating dinner at some restaurant – if you can even call it that – on the highway counts as a date?" I said, arching my eyebrow. "No way. You deserve a lot better than that."

Her smile returned. "Well then, where are you planning on taking me on our date?"

I grinned. "I don't know. I'll have to think about it. So, does that mean you're saying yes? I can take you out sometime?"

Rose nodded. "Yes."

I smiled, happy she'd said yes. It was almost midnight so we decided to call it a night. I walked her to her door and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss me goodnight.

"Can I see you tomorrow?" I asked, hopeful.

Rose smiled. "Sure."

"Okay," I said, feeling another smile creep onto my face. It was unbelievable how much she could make me smile. "Good night, Roza. Sweet dreams," I murmured, kissing her cheek softly.

"Night, comrade."

I was reluctant to let her go, but I knew I couldn't stay here all night. I gave her one last glance before leaving. I sighed happily as I walked back to my car and drove home. I couldn't wait to see her again tomorrow.

* * *

**Aww, aren't they cute together? Hope you liked the chapter. Next chapter, there will be lots of Romitri! ;)**

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think about this chapter. Have a nice day/evening! :) **


	16. Chapter 16

**Than****k you very much for the reviews! :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 16**

**RPOV**

I woke up with the biggest smile on my face. I usually wasn't a morning person, but today I felt like singing and dancing. All because of Dimitri.

My heart fluttered as I recalled last night's events. I couldn't believe I'd made out with him in the backseat of his car! I couldn't believe I'd made out with him, period.

I lay in my bed for another couple of minutes, daydreaming about Dimitri. At last, I decided to get up and take a shower. Dimitri had asked if he could see me again today and I wanted to look good for him.

After I'd dressed myself, I checked my phone and saw Christian's text, asking me if we could Skype. I hadn't talked to him since he'd left, except for the occasional text.

I greeted him enthusiastically, which caused him to raise his eyebrows in surprise. He knew I wasn't a morning person yet here I was all cheery and happy. He definitely noticed something was up, but I didn't tell him what happened with Dimitri because I didn't know how he would take it. Probably not well. After all, he thought Dimitri was still grieving over his aunt Tasha.

We'd agreed not to buy Christmas gifts for each other this year. Instead we'd bought ourselves concert tickets to our favorite band. It hadn't been cheap and that's why we'd decided the tickets would be our Christmas gift for each other. We would go see the band together in a couple of months and I could hardly wait for it.

Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door.

"Who's that? You got a visitor?" Christian asked.

I looked up at the door. "Umm, I got to go," I said hastily. "Talk to you later, Chris."

Ignoring his protests, I quickly turned off my laptop before rushing to the door. Taking a deep breath, I opened it and smiled as I saw Dimitri standing in the hallway, holding a brown bag in his hand.

"Good morning, Roza," he said smiling. "I brought you breakfast."

"Good morning," I breathed and he leaned in to kiss my cheek. I stepped aside so he could enter. Peering at the brown bag, I asked, "What did you buy me?"

He held out the bag with a grin. "What do you think?"

"Donuts!" I exclaimed happily as I opened the bag.

Dimitri chuckled. "I already thought that would make you happy."

"You definitely know how to make a girl smile, comrade," I said, taking a bite of a chocolate glazed donut. I held out the bag to Dimitri, offering him a donut. We settled down on my bed, eating our donuts in silence.

"Do you have any plans today?" Dimitri asked when we finished our donuts.

I shook my head. "I'm free as a bird."

All my friends had gone home for the holidays. It seemed like I was the only one stuck here at school because my mother didn't want to see me for Christmas. Come to think of it, she hadn't even called. No way in hell was I calling first this time.

"You want to go out and do something?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, that'd be fun."

Dimitri smiled. "What would you like to do?"

I pondered his question. I guess we could go to town, but what were we going to do there? We'd already went shopping yesterday with the kids and I didn't think Dimitri was up for another shopping spree. Suddenly, an idea hit me.

"Would you like to go ice skating?" I asked eagerly. I loved ice skating. It had been a while and I knew Dimitri was into sports so hopefully that included ice skating.

His smile widened when he noticed my enthusiasm. "Sure. I don't care what we do. As long as I'm with you."

I blushed. He was so incredibly sweet! No wonder Tasha had wanted to marry him so badly.

Ice skating with Dimitri fun. I'd gone a couple of times with Christian, but he couldn't stay on his skates for two minutes without falling onto his butt. Luckily, Dimitri was not that clumsy on the ice. In fact, he was just as good as me. I always liked to race around the rink, but with Christian that hadn't been possible because he always kept falling over. With Dimitri, I had to do my best to keep up with him. Damn him and his long legs!

"Come on, Roza," Dimitri said grinning. "I thought you were going to beat me?"

I gritted my teeth and pushed myself to go faster. Finally, I managed to catch up with him. I stuck my tongue out at him, which made him laugh. I grinned and skated away from him.

I slowed down when I was on the opposite side of the rink, figuring he was far behind. But then strong arms wrapped around my waist and I let out a surprised scream. Several people looked over at us and I flushed bright red, embarrassed.

"Going somewhere, Roza?" Dimitri murmured in my ear.

"Oh my God! You scared me to death!" I exclaimed, turning around in his arms.

He chuckled and leaned in, pressing his lips against mine. "Have I told yet you how beautiful you look today?" he said when he pulled away. I smiled reluctantly and he kissed me again. Now that we were standing still on the ice, I started to shiver. "You wanna go and have some hot chocolate to warm up?"

I nodded. Taking my hand in his, we skated back to the side of the rink.

**DPOV**

I smiled as I watched Roza sleep on my shoulder. She'd fallen asleep during the movie and I hadn't had the heart to wake her up. She looked so peaceful. It was nearly midnight, though, so I figured I should bring her home.

"Roza," I murmured, caressing her cheek. "Wake up."

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me in confusion. "Is the movie over?" she asked, looking at the TV screen.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I think you missed half of it, though. You fell asleep."

Her eyes widened. "Really? I'm sorry."

I smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's okay. You were tired." She let out a sigh and closed her eyes again for a brief moment. "You want me to drive you home so you can get some rest?"

I'd love for her to stay here tonight so I could hold her in my arms all night, but I figured it might be too soon for that.

"Thank you for today. I had fun," Rose said as I parked my car at campus.

"Me too," I murmured. We'd spent the whole day together and it had been fantastic. I wished every day could be like today. Unfortunately, I had to go back to work tomorrow. "Can I take you out on a date tomorrow night?"

Rose smiled. "Sure. I'd love that." Then she suddenly frowned. "But it's Thursday tomorrow. Aren't you going to the gym with Ivan?"

"I can cancel," I said shrugging. She looked at me, unsure, and I took her hand in mine, kissing her knuckles softly. "I'd rather spend my time with you, Roza."

"Okay," she agreed.

I smiled. "Great. How about I pick you up at seven?"

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow night then."

My eyes flicked down to her lips. I wanted to kiss those soft lips so badly. As if she knew what I was thinking, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine.

"Good night, comrade," she whispered before getting out of the car.

I watched her walk to the door with a big smile on my face. As I drove back home, I thought about where I could take Rose for our date.

The next day I called Ivan to cancel for tonight. He asked me why and I gave him a vague answer. Of course, he guessed what was going on.

"You're going to Rose, aren't you?" he said.

I sighed. "Yeah," I said, giving in. "We're going on a date."

"About time! Where are you taking her?"

"I don't know yet," I said.

"Just take her to dinner and go to the movies afterwards," Ivan said. "That's what I do on first dates."

I rolled my eyes. "I know. That's what everyone does. I want to do something different."

"Well, then I don't know."

I let out another sigh. "I'm going to browse the internet. See if I can find some inspiration there."

"Good luck," Ivan said. "And if you don't want to go to the movies, you should at least go do something with her that is going to get you laid," he added.

I didn't dignify that comment with a response. "Bye Ivan."

I searched the internet during my break and after half an hour I finally found something I could do with Rose tonight. Several sites had said that it was a unique and fun first date and that women liked it. Knowing Rose, I was pretty sure she would like it too. Smiling, I took my phone and texted her, telling her to dress casual but warm for tonight.

I glanced at the clock. Just a few more hours at work before I could go home and see Rose tonight. I couldn't wait.

**RPOV**

I waited impatiently for Dimitri to come and pick me up. I'd been restless all day, looking forward to tonight. I'd been wondering where he would take me to. I don't think it would be somewhere fancy since he texted me to dress casual.

At last, seven o'clock came around. There was a knock on my door and I jumped up from my bed, rushing to open the door.

"Good evening, Roza," Dimitri murmured, smiling. He was holding a bouquet in his hands. They were my favorite: Magnolias. "These are for you."

"Oh my God, Dimitri," I breathed. "These are gorgeous." He smiled and I leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

I put them in a vase and turned back to Dimitri. He held out his hand for me.

"You ready to go?" he asked. I nodded and he helped me slip on my coat. He took my hand in his as he led me out of my room. "You look beautiful tonight, Roza."

I blushed. I was wearing my beige sweaterdress and had decided to let my hair loose tonight. I knew Dimitri loved it when my hair was down. In the few make out sessions we'd had, he'd always tangled his hands in my hair, telling me how much he loved my long locks.

"Thank you," I murmured. Dimitri opened the car door for me like a gentleman. When we were on the road, I couldn't help but ask, "So, where are you taking me?"

"You'll see soon enough," he responded smiling.

"Aww, can't you tell me now?" I said in a whiny voice.

He laughed softly. "No, Roza. You'll have to wait until we get there."

I pouted. "Fine."

Lacing our fingers together, he lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles softly. "Patience, Roza," he said in a teasing voice.

I glared at him playfully and he smiled a breathtaking smile. After half an hour of driving, we finally arrived at our destiny. I'd had no idea where we were going and I hadn't recognized the road he'd taken, which had made me wonder even more where he was taking me to.

When he helped me out of the car and led me to a large building, a smile lit up my face. "Oh my God! You're taking me to the aquarium?!"

He nodded. "I know how much you love animals. And they say it's really beautiful here so…"

It was true. I loved animals. I'd always wanted a pet, but my mom hadn't allowed it. Now, at college, I couldn't keep a dog or cat either.

"I thought you'd like it," he said, eyeing me a little unsure.

I grinned. "I love it! I didn't even know there was an aquarium in the neighborhood!"

Dimitri smiled, clearly relieved. "Well, why don't we go inside then?"

The aquarium was amazing. It was really beautiful and so quiet since it was already evening. I especially loved watching the penguins and the dolphins. There weren't any shows tonight, but Dimitri promised we would come back with the kids one day for the dolphin shows.

When the aquarium was about to close, we walked back to the parking lot. As we walked, I pondered if students were allowed to keep a fish in their room. Normally, I didn't like fish, but there'd been clownfish in the aquarium and I had to admit they looked kind of cute. I wouldn't mind having one of those.

"You hungry?" Dimitri asked when we were back in the car. I nodded. "You want to go somewhere to have dinner?"

"Yeah sure."

"You can choose where we go," he said.

"Hmm. I wouldn't say no to some Chinese food," I said grinning. "Is that okay for you?"

He nodded. "Chinese it is," he said with a smile.

After dinner, we went for a walk around town. We walked in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's company. At one point, I let go of his hand, pretending to search for something in my purse. I stopped and crouched down, gathering snow in my hands.

"Roza, are you alright?" Dimitri asked, finally turning around.

I quickly got up and, grinning, I smashed the snowball in his face. I giggled uncontrollably when I saw the perplexed look on his face as he wiped the snow away. Then, without warning, Dimitri grabbed some snow himself and threw it at me. Part of it hit me in the face, the other part ended up in my hair. I let out a scream as Dimitri gathered more snow and took a step toward me.

"Don't!" I said, backing up. I couldn't keep the grin off my face, though.

"You started it," Dimitri said, also grinning.

"Don't you dare, Dimitri!" I said. He didn't know I had another snowball hidden behind my back. I let him come closer and when he was one step away from me, I stuffed the snow down his duster.

"Roza," he growled.

Laughing, I ran off, but he was right behind me. His arms encircled me and we tumbled down together in the snow. I rolled onto my back, still laughing, and tried to push Dimitri off of me.

"No!" I screeched as I felt the ice cold snow sliding down my back. My dress was sodden, but right now I could care less. I was having too much fun.

Dimitri laughed and tried to shove more snow down my coat but I managed to wriggle out of his hold and smashed more snow in his face. He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me closer to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he said in a teasing voice.

"No more," I said, still giggling. "Please."

"Alright, alright," he said chuckling. He loosened his grip on me and I relaxed against his chest. His lips pressed against my cheek and then he murmured, "I think we should get up. You're soaked. How about we go home? Then you can warm up."

I nodded and Dimitri helped me up. I was shivering now and he quickly put his arm around me, rubbing my arm with his hand. He drove me back to campus so I could get changed into dry clothes.

"What about you?" I asked. He must be cold, too. After all, he'd been lying in the snow too.

"Don't worry about me," he said smiling. "I'll be fine. Go get changed now."

I nodded and headed to the bathroom. I took a quick shower. The hot water felt good against my skin and I was reluctant to step out of the shower. When I returned, Dimitri was sitting on the chair at my desk. He got up and walked toward me.

"You had fun tonight?" he asked.

I nodded and smiled. "Yes. I loved it. Thank you, Dimitri."

He smiled too. "Does that mean I can take you out on another date?"

"Hmm. I don't know about that." His smile disappeared abruptly and he actually looked disappointed, not realizing I was just teasing him, and I grinned. "Of course you can take me out on another date, comrade!"

He narrowed his eyes at me playfully. "That wasn't funny, Roza."

"I know. Sorry. I could make you feel better?" I suggested, biting my lip.

"How?"

"Like this," I whispered. Standing on my tiptoes, I pressed my lips against his. His arms wrapped around me as he responded to the kiss. "Feeling better now?"

He grinned. "Lots." Leaning in, he gave me another quick kiss on the lips. "I almost forgot… My mother called earlier today and told me the kids wanted to stay there for New Year's. She asked if we wanted to come over too."

"We?" I asked, uncertain.

He smiled. "Yes. She likes you a lot. And she knows how I feel about you."

"She does?" I said, surprised.

"Yes, she figured it out somehow," he said, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. "So…would you like to come with me?"

"Sure," I said smiling. "If it really isn't a problem for your family."

"It isn't," he said quickly. "And I'd really love it if you'd be there too."

"Alright then," I said happily. It's not like I had other plans. And what was better than to spend New Year's with Dimitri and his family? They were all amazing and so welcoming.

Dimitri's smile widened and he kissed me. "It's getting late. I should probably go home now," he murmured.

I was reluctant to let him go, but I knew he was right. "Good night," I said, pecking him on the lips.

"Night, Roza," he whispered, squeezing my hand gently before letting go. "I'll call you tomorrow."

I watched him leave and sank down on my bed, sighing happily, when the door closed behind him. I couldn't wait to see him tomorrow again. But maybe I wouldn't have to wait until tomorrow because I was pretty sure I would be dreaming about him tonight.

* * *

**That was it for this chapter. What did you think about the date? You liked it? Disliked it? I didn't have much inspiration, but apparently girls like being taken to the aquarium as a date. I'd like it too so yeah... I figured that'd be a good date. :)**

**Have a nice weekend! :) **


	17. Chapter 17

**Thank you very much for all the reviews! :)**

**Someone asked me if there will be lemons in this story. If anyone else is wondering about this, here's your answer: yes, there will be lemons, but all in good time. Rose and Dimitri just started dating. I know, they're both adults, but there's nothing wrong with taking things slow, right? ;) Anyway, there will be a lemon soon enough. Maybe in a few chapters :P **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 17**

**DPOV**

"Daddy!"

Alisa ran toward me and hugged me. I lifted her in my arms and kissed her cheek. "Hey, milaya. How are you?"

She giggled. "I'm good. But I missed you," she said, hugging me tighter.

I smiled. "I missed you too."

"I'm glad you're here," she said.

"Me too," I murmured.

It was New Year's Eve and I hadn't seen them in a week. They'd spent the whole week with their grandparents. It had given me some time to be more with Rose and I'd loved that, but I'd also missed my kids and I was glad to see them again.

Liam and Inna greeted me just as enthusiastically, but Liam was a little more enthusiastic when he saw Rose. I practically had to drag him away from her so she could have some space to breathe.

I greeted my parents and introduced Rose to my father, Alexei, who'd just returned from his business trip a few days ago. Viktoria wasn't home. She was going to celebrate New Year's with some of her friends and had already left. Sonya was also out with friends and Karolina was at home with Paul and her husband. They'd be coming over later tonight.

During dinner, I made sure to sit next to Rose. My hand found hers under the table and I squeezed it gently, lacing our fingers together. She glanced up at me and I smiled. She returned my smile and I wished I could kiss her. I would have to wait until we were alone, though.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Mama looking at us curiously. I quickly looked away from Rose and glanced down at my plate, releasing Rose's hand. I felt my mother staring at me, but, thankfully, she didn't say anything. And, thank God, she was the only one who'd noticed. After dinner, when I was helping clearing the table, she spoke to me about it.

"It seems like things between you and Rose are going well," she noted.

"What do you mean?" I asked casually.

She sighed and gave me a pointed look. "I saw your little exchange during dinner. Don't act like there's nothing going on. I know there is. I can see it."

I glanced behind me to make sure we were still alone. When I'd checked, I looked back at Mama and opened my mouth to say something, but she cut me off.

"I know you're not ready to talk about it yet," she said, "but I just wanted to say that I'm happy for you." She stopped in front of me and smiled. "You deserve it."

Then she walked away and left me alone in the kitchen. I stared after her, perplexed. Was it that obvious? I used to be so good at masking my feelings, but when I was around Rose I forgot all about that. Sighing, I followed my mother out and joined the rest of my family in the living room.

Soon, Karolina arrived. Paul immediately flung himself into Rose's arms when he saw her. It was obvious the men in this family adored Rose. Even my father seemed to like her.

Rose and I didn't get a chance to talk much because the kids were hanging around her all the time, but I didn't mind. They were happy, which I was glad for. Inna seemed a little sad, though. She'd smile just as often as the rest, but I could see in her eyes that something was amiss. When I found her sitting alone in the kitchen, munching on some crisps, I asked her about it.

"Hey, milaya," I said, taking a seat next to her. "What are you doing here all alone? Is there something bothering you?"

She shrugged, not looking at me.

"You can tell me," I said gently.

She looked up at me and I noticed there were tears brimming her eyes. "I don't know," she whispered. "I guess I just miss Mom." She wiped at her eyes and said, "We used to be together as a family this time a year. And I would've helped her with the shopping and we would've decorated the Christmas tree together. And we'd make dinner for New Year's Eve… We'd all be together, but now… now she isn't here anymore."

"Oh, Inna," I sighed, taking her in my arms. She wrapped her arms around me and I kissed the top of her head. "I know it's hard, but it'll get better. I promise." I pulled back slightly so I could look at her. "Don't cry, milaya," I murmured, wiping her tears away with my thumbs. "Your mom would've wanted you to be happy." She nodded and I gave her a small smile. "Why don't you go back to the living room and have some fun, huh? It'll make you feel better."

"Okay," she said softly.

She went back to join our family while I stayed seated in the kitchen. I let out a sigh, burying my face in my hands, wishing I could take Inna's pain away.

"Are you alright?"

Startled, I looked up. Rose stood in the doorway, a hesitant look on her face. I nodded and got up as she walked towards me.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah," I responded softly. "It's just… Well, Inna is still having a hard time. She misses her mother very much. I wish I could do something to make her feel better, but I can't."

"Hey, it'll be okay," Rose said gently as she put her hand against my cheek, making me look at her. "She'll be okay. She just needs time."

I leaned into her touch. "I really hope so."

Rose gave me a sympathetic smile and wrapped her arms around me. I buried my face in the crook of her neck, taking in the glorious scent of her hair as I held her tightly against me.

"Thank you, Roza," I murmured, pulling back slightly so I could look at her.

She smiled and stroked my cheek. "We should get back before they start wondering where we are." I nodded and followed her to the door. She turned back around and added, "And don't worry so much. Just relax and have fun. Even if it's just for tonight."

I smiled. "I will," I promised.

When it was almost midnight, we gathered outside to watch the fireworks. The kids yelled 'Happy New Year!' at the same time and then they started cheering when the sky lit up with fireworks. I was kind of sad I wasn't able to kiss Rose. Instead, I got to kiss her on the cheek, which was better than nothing. My lips lingered a moment longer than they should have, but no one noticed. They were all distracted by the fireworks.

Karolina decided to go home shortly after because Paul was tired. My kids were also exhausted and I suggested we'd go home too, but Mama insisted we'd stay the night. I started to argue that there wasn't enough room for all of us and that I didn't want to be an inconvenience, but she would have none of that.

"Inna and Alisa can sleep in Viktoria's room," she said, "and Liam can have the guest room. Rose can stay in your old bedroom, Dimitri."

"And where am I going to sleep?" I asked with a frown.

Mama smiled. "The couch."

"Great," I muttered.

Rose grinned at me. "Aww, that's too bad, comrade."

I glared at her playfully.

"You can show her to your room, Dimka," Mama said, nodding at Rose.

I led Roza upstairs and to my room. I hadn't been here in years, but it all still looked the same.

"More westerns," Rose said with a grin, noticing the bookcase in the corner. "Why am I not surprised?"

I smiled. I wish I could stay for a little while and talk to her, but I needed to put my kids to bed and I didn't want Mama to get even more suspicious.

"Well, I'll let you get some sleep," I said after a few moments. "If you need anything, you know where to find me." She nodded. "Good night, Roza."

"Night, Dimitri," she murmured.

I left, closing the door behind me, and went to my kids. After I'd put them to bed, I returned downstairs. Mama had left some blankets for me on the couch. Sighing, I settled down on the couch and tried to sleep, but I couldn't.

I kept thinking about Roza. About how she was sleeping under the very same roof tonight, only a few feet away from me. After another half hour of tossing and turning, I got up and went upstairs. I stopped at Roza's door and hesitated. Taking a deep breath, I knocked softly on the door.

I waited for several seconds and then I heard her voice, "Come in."

I opened the door and slipped inside. Rose was sitting up in bed and looked at me with a smile.

"Can't sleep?" she asked.

I shook my head.

Her smile widened. "Me either."

I walked over to her. "Are you wearing my shirt?"

She looked down. "Umm…" It was dark, but I could imagine she was blushing right now. "Yeah, I found it in your closet. I didn't want to sleep in my dress. Do you mind?"

I smiled. "Not at all."

Rose scooted over and patted the spot next to her on the bed. I looked at her, unsure.

"Are you sure?" I asked at last.

She nodded so I slipped under the covers with her. She rolled onto her side and looked at me, smiling. I moved closer and took her hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. Leaning in, I kissed her softly on the lips.

The intensity of our kiss increased quickly and her lips parted, granting me entrance. She moaned softly as my tongue brushed against hers and she pulled me closer, wrapping her arms around my neck. I rolled on top of her, making sure not to crush her with my weight, as our lips continued to move in sync.

"Now, that's what I call a proper New Year's kiss," I said grinning after we'd pulled away from the kiss. Rose laughed. I rolled onto my back and smiled at her before pressing my lips against hers again. "Happy New Year, Roza," I whispered.

She smiled. "Happy New Year, comrade."

I sighed happily and wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight. "If you want to sleep, just tell me and then I'll go back downstairs," I murmured.

She looked up at me. "I want you to stay."

"Alright," I said smiling. "I'll stay until you fall asleep."

"No," she said. I frowned, confused. "I want to wake up next to you."

_Oh._ "I can't," I said sadly. I didn't want anything more than to stay with her all night, but I couldn't. "I have to be downstairs when the kids wake up. They can't know yet-"

She glanced away. "Right. I forgot for a moment that…" She sighed and shook her head. "Sorry."

"No, don't be sorry," I said quickly. _Damn._ I wanted to stay with Rose, but the kids couldn't know about us yet. It was too soon. Suddenly, an idea hit me. "I'll set the alarm at seven and then go back downstairs. They won't get up before seven, I'm sure about that."

She nodded. "Okay, I'd like that. But you don't have to stay if you don't want to," she added.

I kissed her. "I'd love to stay," I whispered against her lips.

Rose smiled. "Okay."

I pressed another kiss to her lips. She snuggled closer to me and I pulled the covers over us before draping my arm around her waist.

"Sweet dreams, Roza," I murmured, kissing the top of her head.

The next morning, I slipped back downstairs when the alarm set off. Five minutes later, Liam came in and jumped on the couch next to me.

"Dad, are you awake?"

Pretending I'd just woken up from my son barging in, I sat up and yawned. "Liam, why are you up already? It's still early."

"I needed to pee," he said.

"Why don't you go back to bed? You only had a few hours of sleep," I said.

"I'm not tired anymore," he mumbled. "Can I watch some TV?"

I sighed. "Sure."

Liam grabbed the remote and sat down next to me. I watched cartoons with him for a while until my parents came downstairs. I was helping my mother getting breakfast ready when Rose walked into the kitchen, a smile on her face.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully.

"Morning," I said smiling. "Did you sleep well?"

Her eyes twinkled as she looked at me. "Yes, _wonderful_. Thanks for asking." I grinned. "How about you? How was the couch?"

"Actually, it was much better than I'd expected," I said. "Very comfortable."

Mama glanced between the two of us. She had that suspicious look on her face again so I quickly looked away from Rose and changed the subject.

After breakfast, we went home. Alisa and Inna were still tired and slept all the way back home while Liam and Rose played a game. But at long last, Liam grew quiet and fell asleep too.

"Will I see you soon?" I asked when I dropped Rose off at campus.

"Of course." She smiled and, leaning forward, she pecked me on the cheek before getting out of the car. She walked to the door and turned around, waving at me. I smiled at her and waved back and watched her go inside.

"Do you like Rose?"

Startled, I turned around in my seat and looked at Alisa, who was wide awake now. _Shit._ Had she seen Rose kiss me?

"Of course I like her," I said, trying to appear casual.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't mean it like that. I mean, do you like her the way you liked Mom?"

I averted my eyes from her. Clearing my throat, I said, "Why would you think that?"

She just smirked knowingly, but didn't say anything else, which I was grateful for. But when we finally got home, she said, "It's okay if you like her, you know."

Then she walked past me and went to her room, leaving me standing in the hallway, utterly perplexed. _Damn._ Keeping my relationship with Roza a secret for my kids wasn't going to be as easy as I thought it would be.

* * *

**Do you think Alisa is onto them? Do you think she's seen something she wasn't supposed to see or just noticed the sudden change in behavior between Rose and Dimitri?**

**I hoped you liked the chapter and I'm sorry for the late update. I'm busy with school and there's some other stuff going on in my life that's taking up some time aswell :/. So, once again, I'm sorry. **

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter. Have a nice day/evening! :) **


	18. Chapter 18

**Thank you very much for all the reviews! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 18**

**RPOV**

In the following weeks, I was more at Dimitri's house than I was at campus. I was even there when I didn't have to take care of the kids. Dimitri usually asked me if I wanted to stay for dinner and then we'd cook together. The kids didn't mind. In fact, they loved it when I stayed over for dinner. I was glad they liked having me around as much as I liked spending time with them. And, of course, I liked spending time with Dimitri too.

Dimitri and I didn't get much opportunities to be alone. He was working and I had to go to class or babysit his kids. And when he got home, the kids would be there too. But the few moments we got to be alone were always amazing. I looked forward to those moments every day. They were the best part of my day.

"Alright, it's bed time, kids," Dimitri announced after we'd watched a movie with them. I'd stayed over for dinner again and they'd asked me to stay and watch a movie with them.

"Can you tuck me in tonight, Rose?" Liam asked.

I smiled. "Sure."

He grinned and walked over to Dimitri, kissing him good night. "Night, Daddy!"

I followed Liam upstairs and into his room. I helped him into his PJ's and then tucked him into bed. I got up to get his teddy bear. I knew he couldn't sleep without it.

"Thank you," he murmured as he held the teddy bear to his chest.

"Good night, Liam," I said, kissing him on the forehead.

"Night, Rose," he mumbled before closing his eyes.

I walked back to the door and flicked off the lights before I left. When I returned to the living room, Dimitri was already there waiting for me on the couch. He smiled at me and patted the spot next to him. I sat down and cuddled up to his side as he wrapped his arm around me.

"Thank you for staying for dinner tonight," Dimitri murmured, kissing my temple.

I smiled. "It was my pleasure."

He chuckled and leaned in, kissing me on the lips. I let out a soft moan as he bit down on my lower lip. I parted my lips, allowing him entrance, and he slipped his tongue inside. Without breaking the kiss, he lowered me onto the couch. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer while his hands rested on my waist.

"Dimitri," I moaned as he trailed a path of kisses down my neck and sucked on my soft spot. His lips returned to mine and he kissed me passionately. All too soon he pulled away from me and lay down next to me on the couch. We couldn't get too carried away with the kids in the house.

"I should probably go home," I said, breathless.

Dimitri sighed. "I wish we could spend more time together," he murmured, caressing my cheek.

"Me too."

"Maybe we could go out for dinner sometime again. Just the two of us," he said. "I could get Christian or Ivan to babysit the kids."

I smiled. "Won't they think that's weird? I mean, _I _am their babysitter. What are you going to tell them?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. That you have to study and can't come over."

"I guess," I said. "But I feel a little bad we're lying to them."

Dimitri sighed again. "Yeah, I know. But I don't know how they'd react to us being together. I think Liam and Alisa will be okay with it, but I'm not sure about Inna…"

I nodded. "Yeah, we should probably wait a little longer to tell them."

He pressed his lips against my cheek. "You know," he said, "I think Alisa already knows about us."

I looked up at him in surprise. "What? How?"

"I don't know," he answered. "But sometimes she says these things that makes me think she knows. I mean, she once asked me if I _liked_ you."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, really," he said. "And then she said she was okay with it."

"Wow," I said, not knowing what else to say. I glanced at him and he smiled. "Are we that obvious?"

"I guess. Though I think I'm doing a very good job with keeping my hands off of you when they are around," he said teasingly as he rolled back on top of me. I laughed and he pressed his lips against my neck. "Do you know how hard that is?"

"Aww," I said, half laughing. "Poor baby."

He grinned and kissed me. "You are the most amazing woman I've ever met, Roza," he said affectionately. I blushed and his grin widened. "And I love it when you blush."

"Stop it," I said, shoving against his chest.

Dimitri laughed and pressed another kiss to my lips. Then he rolled off of me and helped me sit up on the couch. Sighing, I grabbed my coat and put it on. I hated to leave, but it was getting late and I had a class in the morning. I needed to go home and get some sleep.

"Here," Dimitri said, taking his wallet and handing me money. "For babysitting the kids." Hesitantly, I looked at the money in his hand. "What's wrong?" he asked when I didn't accept it.

"I don't know," I said, looking down. "It feels weird taking money from you."

"Why? You never had any problems with taking it before," he teased.

I looked back up at him. "Things are different now."

"I know, but you're still taking care of my kids when I'm not here. I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of you."

"I don't think that," I said frowning.

He sighed. "Please take the money, Roza. I'd feel bad if you don't. You deserve to have it. You worked for it."

Reluctantly, I took the money from him. "I still think it's weird, but…thanks."

He smiled and leaned in to kiss me. "Text me when you get home?"

"I will," I promised.

The next day I met up with Christian to catch up after class. I'd only seen him briefly when he'd returned to school last week. We had lunch together and after a while, Lissa joined us too. Christian's face lit up as soon as he saw her and greeted her with a kiss. I smiled. They were so adorable together.

"How was your holiday, Rose?" Lissa asked.

"It was good, thanks," I answered. Christian snorted and I glared at him. "What?"

"I don't believe for one second you had a good holiday. You were all alone," he said scowling.

"I wasn't alone," I retorted.

"No?" he questioned, raising his eyebrow.

"I spent Christmas with Dimitri and his kids," I said.

He looked at me, stunned. "What? Why'd you spent it with them? You know you could've gone home with me. You just had to call me and I would've come and get you. You didn't have to go to them."

I shrugged. "I didn't mind. It was fun actually," I said casually.

Christian crossed his arms. "I can't believe you'd rather spend time with them than your best friend."

I grinned. "Aww, Chrissy, don't be jealous," I said teasingly. He glared at me and I sighed. "I just didn't want to disturb you and your family during the holidays."

"But you didn't mind disturbing Dimitri's family?" he huffed.

"They wanted me to come," I said shrugging.

He smirked and I knew he wasn't really mad. "I think they were just pitying you."

I threw a fry at him. "Christian!"

He laughed and threw the fry back at me. "Just kidding, Rosie."

Suddenly, I felt my phone buzz in my jeans pocket. I retrieved my phone and opened the text. It was from Dimitri, asking me to meet him at my dorm room in ten minutes. I frowned. I thought he was at home with the kids. He'd gotten the day off of work so that meant I didn't have to babysit today. But if he wanted to meet me here, where were the kids then?

"Is everything alright, Rose?" Christian asked.

I looked up at him. "Yeah, sure. There's just something I need to do." I got up and put on my coat. "Talk to you later."

When I arrived at my dorm room, Dimitri was already there, leaning against the wall. He smiled when he saw me and walked up to me.

"Hey Roza," he murmured, kissing me softly.

"Hey," I said, still a little confused. "What are you doing here? Where are the kids?"

"With the neighbor," he answered grinning. "I told them I needed to run an errand."

"Why?"

"So I could see you," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer to him. "It was the only way I could see you today."

"You're so sweet, comrade," I said smiling and I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. "So, how long can you stay?"

"About an hour, I think," he said.

I grinned as I pulled him into my room. "Well, let's make it count then."

Dimitri gently pushed me down on my bed and hovered over me, smiling. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me, kissing him fiercely.

"Roza," he murmured as his lips skimmed my skin. I closed my eyes and bit down on my lip when his lips attached to my neck and sucked on it gently. A moan escaped my lips and I tried to pull him even closer. One of his hands tangled in my hair while the other slipped under my shirt and caressed my skin.

Suddenly, a door slammed shut and we both shot upright, startled. Avery stood in the middle of the room, a slow grin spreading across her face as she looked at us.

"Well, don't mind me," she said. She didn't even look surprised to find us here. "I'm just here to get my books and then I'll be gone so you can continue tearing each other's clothes off."

I flushed and glanced down. God, this was embarrassing.

Avery walked back to the door with her books and before leaving, she said, wiggling her eyebrows, "Have fun!"

I looked at Dimitri. "Shit."

He frowned. "What? What's wrong? I mean, aside from just getting caught."

"I think she's going to tell Christian," I said, biting my lip.

"Why would she do that?" he asked, confused. He knew that I thought Avery was a huge bitch and that her feelings towards me were pretty much the same, but he didn't know that she'd been teasing me for months now that I liked Dimitri and that she wondered what Christian would think about that.

"Because she knows it would probably upset him," I grumbled. "And she's been saying for a while now that you and I…" I sighed. "That there was something more between us, but I kept denying it and now… Now she's seen it with her own eyes."

"Do you really think Christian would have a problem with it?" Dimitri asked hesitantly.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "I'm his best friend and your wife was his aunt. He thinks you loved Tasha. He loved her, too. I mean, she's his aunt. He doesn't know that she was actually a bitch." I glanced at Dimitri and added quickly, "Sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Don't apologize," he said. "You're right. She was a bitch."

I let out another sigh and buried my face in my hands. "I don't know what he'll think about it."

Dimitri gently pried my hands away from my face and put his fingers under my chin so I looked him in the eyes. "Before you start to panic, you should talk to Avery," he said. "Ask her to keep it to herself. Tell her you want to be the one to tell him. And if you want," he added, squeezing my hand, "I'll be by your side when you tell Christian. We can tell him together."

I gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand back. "Thanks. But I think it's too soon to tell Christian. Or anyone else. And if we're going to tell someone, we should really tell your kids first."

He nodded in agreement and sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

"I'll talk to Avery when she comes back from class," I said.

Dimitri brushed a strand of hair out of my face and smiled. "Good," he said before pecking me on the lips. "I've got to go now. Will you call me when you've talked to Avery?"

I nodded. "I will."

Dimitri kissed me again. "Bye Roza."

"Bye comrade."

When he'd closed the door behind him, I let myself fall back onto my bed and let out a deep sigh. I prayed Avery wouldn't tell Christian. If she did… Well, I had a feeling Christian wouldn't be too happy about Dimitri and me being together.

* * *

**Do you think Avery will tell Christian? And how would Christian react if he heard about this? Please leave a review and let me know what you think ;)**

**Have a nice day/evening! :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Thank you for the reviews! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 19**

**CHRISTIAN POV**

"See you later, Liss," I murmured, kissing her swiftly on the lips before leaving.

I'd just dropped her off at her class and was on my way to my own when I ran into Avery. I was just going to ignore her when she called out my name. I turned around with great reluctance.

"What?" I almost snapped.

"Long time no see," she said cheerfully.

Huh. This was weird. Avery hated me and now she was acting all happy to see me. Something was not right here.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing," she said, still giving me that fake smile. "I was just wondering if you've seen Rose today, that's all."

"Yes, I have," I said warily. "Why?"

She shrugged. "No reason. It's just… I don't see her as often anymore."

"And you care why?" I said, raising my eyebrow. As far as I knew, Avery wasn't fond of Rose either.

"Well, she's my roommate," Avery said with a small frown. Then she shrugged again. "But anyway, I guess she's too busy with Dimitri. They make a cute couple, don't you think?"

I stared at her, stunned. Rose and Dimitri a cute couple? I must have not heard it right. "What did you say?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh! You didn't know?"

"Didn't know what?" I said.

Avery bit her lip. "Well, about Rose and Dimitri… I thought they'd told you."

I was losing my patience. "Told me _what_?!"

"That they are together," she answered slowly.

My eyes almost bugged out. "You're lying!"

She smirked. "I'm not. They often meet in our dorm room. It's actually quite annoying. I never know when it's safe to go back to my room. Today he was there again and-"

"You're bullshitting me," I interrupted. "You don't even know Dimitri."

"Uh, yeah I do," she said. "He's that tall, handsome guy. Way too young and hot to already have children, if you ask me."

I gritted my teeth. "Rose isn't together with Dimitri. She's just babysitting his kids."

Avery smiled sweetly. "Sure. If that's what you want to believe."

She walked past me and left. I stood there for a couple of minutes, stunned, before I realized I should be in class right now. I quickly took off and after apologizing to my professor, I took my seat in class. Not that I was paying much attention. I kept thinking of what Avery had told me.

Was Rose really with Dimitri? That couldn't be true, right? Sure, she spent a lot of time with him and his kids, but there wasn't anything going on, was there? She would have told me if there was. And Dimitri was still grieving over my aunt. He loved my aunt. There was no possible way that he was together with Rose. Avery was just trying to sabotage my friendship with her. But I had no idea why.

The next day, it was still troubling me. I knew I should talk to Rose, but if it was true, she would probably deny it. And if it wasn't true… Well, I didn't want to accuse my best friend of something I wasn't even sure about.

That evening, I decided to drive by Dimitri's house and see for myself if there was something going on between him and Rose. I slowed down my car when I neared Dimitri's house. It was already dark outside, but a small light lit up the front porch. Just then, the door opened and Rose walked out, followed by Dimitri. They were talking about something and both had a small smile on their faces.

I decided to get out of the car and sneak towards them. I realized I must look ridiculous right now, sneaking behind trees and cars to get a closer look on them, but it was for a good cause. When I was closer, I could hear part of their conversation. They were saying their goodbyes.

"See you tomorrow?" I heard Dimitri ask.

"Sure, comrade," was Rose's reply.

I peered around the car I was hiding behind. They were standing close to each other, but there was nothing that made me think they were together. They were just friendly with each other. I sighed. I knew I shouldn't have believed Avery.

But then, Dimitri reached for Rose's hand. "Be careful," he murmured.

"Always am, comrade," Rose joked.

I frowned. Comrade? She'd called him that twice now. What kind of nickname was that?! And why did she even have a nickname for him?

Dimitri pulled Rose closer. "I mean it, Roza," he said. His tone was stern, but the look on his face was playful.

_What the hell?_

I moved closer to get an even better view, but I was so focused on what they were saying and how close they were standing to each other that I didn't see the curb. I tripped and fell face down on the sidewalk.

I heard a gasp and then Rose rushed towards me. "Christian?"

I groaned and sat up, rubbing my face.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she helped me up.

"Uh, yeah, I just tripped," I said, a little embarrassed. I glanced at Dimitri who walked over to us and gave him a tight smile before turning back to Rose.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm here because, umm, I came to pick you up," I lied quickly. Clearing my throat, I asked, "You ready to go?"

She frowned a little. "Yeah. But… How did you know I was leaving now?"

I stared at Rose for a moment, not knowing what to say. _Think. Think fast!_ "It's Thursday night and I know you stay here later than usual then," I said at last. "I was just driving back to campus and I thought I could come and pick you up. I mean, it's safer than walking home alone."

"Thanks, Christian," Dimitri suddenly said. "I'm glad you're here. I don't like her walking home alone either."

I nodded and looked over at Rose. "Shall we go then?"

"Yeah sure," she said. She smiled at Dimitri. "Good night, Dimitri."

"Good night, Rose," he responded.

No nicknames when I was around, huh?

I said my goodbyes to Dimitri and then Rose and I walked to my car in silence.

"Why'd you park your car over there?" Rose asked. "There was enough space in front of Dimitri's house."

"I wanted to walk for a bit," I lied.

As we drove back to campus, Rose was texting with someone. The big smile on her face indicated that she was texting with someone special. Like Dimitri.

"Who are you texting?" I asked.

"No one," she replied quickly.

"Then why are you smiling like that?" I said, a little annoyed.

She glanced over at me and raised her eyebrow. "Are you okay, Christian?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." After a few minutes of silence, I asked, "So, how's Dimitri?"

"Um, good, I guess," she answered.

"Well, you should know," I said, trying to appear casual. "You talk to him more than I do."

"Yeah. Where is Lissa? I thought you'd be with her tonight," Rose said, quickly changing the subject.

"She's meeting her study group," I answered.

"Oh."

I didn't know why, but she seemed a little bit nervous – and eager to leave. After thanking me for picking her up, she practically ran to her dorm when we'd arrived at campus.

I had a feeling she was hiding something from me. Maybe Avery was right after all. Maybe Rose really was with Dimitri and maybe that was what she was trying to hide from me. I honestly hoped it wasn't, but what I'd seen tonight had raised my suspicions and I would definitely be paying more attention to them in the future.

**RPOV**

"So have you talked to Avery yet?"

I looked up at Dimitri. "You mean after our huge fight?"

When Avery had come back to our room that day she'd caught me and Dimitri in a compromising position I'd tried talking to her in a civilized way. But she'd taunted me and had made snide comments about Dimitri and me and what Christian would say about us. She'd also let me know she'd run into Christian and that she might have slipped up. That's when I'd stopped trying to be civilized and, well, you can guess what happened then. We hadn't spoken since our fight.

"No," I said sighing, "I haven't. She's ignoring me and I'm ignoring her."

Even though Avery had claimed she'd slipped up and told Christian, I didn't believe her. If she really had, Christian would've come to me already, demanding an explanation. He'd been acting a little weird lately, though, but there wasn't anything that made me think he knew about Dimitri and me.

"You should try and talk to her," Dimitri said.

"It's not my fault we're fighting," I huffed. "It's _hers_. I didn't do anything wrong. I think she should take the first step."

"I know it's not your fault, Roza," he said softly, "but you should try, though. I mean, you're going to have to live with her until the end of the school year."

"I guess," I grumbled.

Dimitri kissed my forehead and smiled. "It'll be alright, Roza," he murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

I leaned into his touch and gave him a small smile as I looked up at him. "I know."

He was about to say something else, but then Liam came barging into the kitchen and Dimitri quickly took a step back.

"Can I have dessert?" Liam asked.

"You just had dinner," Dimitri said with a frown.

"I know. That's why I'm asking for dessert," Liam said.

Dimitri looked at me. "Sometimes I think you're a bad influence on my kids," he said, glaring at me playfully.

"There's nothing bad about asking for dessert," I said grinning.

Dimitri rolled his eyes at me, but smiled reluctantly. "Fine," he said at last. "You can have dessert. I think we still got some ice in the fridge."

Liam cheered as he opened the fridge and I winked at him.

"You want to watch cartoons with me?" he asked.

"I'll join you after I've helped your father with the dishes," I said.

He nodded and went back to the living room. Then he turned back around and said, "Daddy, don't forget to call Toby's mom for Friday night!"

"I won't!" Dimitri promised.

"Is he going to Toby this Friday?" I asked when Liam had left.

Dimitri nodded. "Yeah, Inna and Alisa are both having sleepovers with some of their friends. Liam felt a little left out and wanted to go with them."

I laughed. "I don't think Inna and Alisa would like that."

He smiled. "No. So now Liam's going to stay at Toby's for the weekend. I still got to call Toby's mom, though, to arrange it."

"Oh," I said. "So you'll be all alone this weekend? Must be nice. To have finally some time for your own."

He nodded. "But…well, I was kind of hoping we could go do something together," he said, looking up at me with a hopeful glint in his eyes. "We could go somewhere for the weekend. If you're up for it, I mean," he added quickly.

"Sure. I'd love to get out of town for a while." I smiled. "And where would you be taking me?"

He grinned. "I'm not going to tell you that. You're going to have to wait until the weekend."

"I bet you don't even know yourself where we're going," I scoffed.

"Maybe. Maybe not," Dimitri teased.

I stuck out my tongue at him and he laughed before pulling me closer to him. I was about to tell him the kids might walk in on us, but he cut me off as his lips met mine in a passionate kiss.

"Rose! Are you coming?" I heard Liam yell from the living room.

I pulled away from Dimitri and grinned. "Sorry, comrade, but I've got to go. Seems like you're going to have to do the dishes all by yourself tonight."

He narrowed his eyes at me playfully. "Well, if I were you I'd leave quickly. Before I change my mind about letting you go."

I smiled and pecked his cheek before hurrying away to join Liam, who was still calling for me. After a while, Dimitri joined us. He sat down next to me and moved his hand over mine on the couch. I glanced at Liam, but he was too preoccupied to notice. Glancing back at Dimitri, I smiled. He smiled back and laced our fingers together.

A few minutes later, Alisa walked in and Dimitri quickly pulled his hand away from mine. Not long after that I decided to go home. I wished the kids goodnight before making my way to the front door. Dimitri followed me.

"I've thought about where I'm going to take you this weekend," he said, a teasing glint in his eyes.

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh? I thought you said you already knew where you'd be taking me."

"Yeah, but I wasn't sure yet. Now I am," he said smiling.

"I suppose you won't tell me where you're taking me?" I said, giving him a winning smile.

Dimitri shook his head. "I'm afraid not." I pouted and he laughed. "That's not going to help, Roza. You're going to have to wait until Friday."

"I'm already looking forward to it," I said.

He smiled. "Good night, Roza."

"Night, comrade," I murmured, kissing him on the cheek before heading home.

* * *

**So Avery told Christian after all! What did you think of Christian's spying mission? Wasn't much of a success, huh? ;)  
****And where will Dimitri and Rose go for the weekend? Also, is anyone interested in a lemon next chapter? :P **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Have a nice day/evening! :)**


End file.
